


Into The Unknown

by KemeticEngineer



Category: Whispers of Life(Origional)
Genre: Dimensional Travel, Dwarves, Elves, F/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 09:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 35,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7528150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KemeticEngineer/pseuds/KemeticEngineer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As she placed her head in the water, the world faded into light. With one last glimpse of the night sky and its stars, Ashya faded from the Terian Dimension, and found herself in the Aether.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

            With a final push of the wind, the last ray of sunshine fled behind the wall of gray that was the sky. Knowing what was to come next; Ashya Williams gathered her books and headed towards the entrance to her high school. No sooner had she done so when it began to pour. With a glance at her watch, Ashya found out it was only halfway through her lunch period. With a sigh, Ashya walked towards the cafeteria recalling an argument from that morning with her sister, Sariah.  
    Standing outside of her car, Ashya said, “It feels like it will rain today”  
 Their Aunt Belen sighed while Sariah rolled her eyes. “What I’m serious!” Ashya exclaimed staring at them like they had gone mad.  
“Just another morning with Ashya” Teased Sariah. Hearing this surged anger throughout Ashya.  
“Why don’t you believe me?” Although Ashya already knew the answer, she could not but help asking.  
“How do you expect me too?” Sariah remarked. “Honestly Ashya, the things you say half the time are just….well….crazy.”  
 “Well you know what….” Ashya started to say this only to be interrupted by Belen.  
“You girls are sisters.” She chocked through clenched teeth, making them instantly feel horrible. “Now…get in the car.”  
Sariah bowed her head in shame and got into the car while Ashya stood there, head down, teaming with anger. Belen looked up at her and said, “Well, are just going to stand there or are you going to get in the car?”  
With a final glare at Sariah, Ashya hissed, “I think I will walk to school…. Of course only if that’s okay with you.” She added sarcastically  
Without waiting for an answer she turned around and stalked away.  
As she walked through the cafeteria doors, the chatter of hundreds of students greeted her with a dull headache. She began to feel hostile stares boring into her back as she walked to the table where her friends, Evangeline and Marcil, sat talking and laughing. Noticing her, Evangeline moved her stuff from the spot next to her so Ashya could sit down. Leaning over, Evangeline whispered, “What did you do?”  
 Ashya grimaced and said, “Why do you assume I did something wrong?”  
At that Marcil snickered and said, “You know why, Ashya Williams.”  
If it had been anyone else she might have been offended but because she knew Marcil so well it was more of a joke than an insult. Evangeline leaned across the table, “So….are you going to help me?” She whispered.  
 Ashya couldn’t help but laugh, Evangeline wanted her to help her ask Marcil to the Promotion Dance. All she could do was nod before Marcil noticed them and scooted closer to them.  “What are you guys whispering about?” He asked.  
Saving them from a really awkward explanation, the bell rang and Evangeline grabbed her arm and pulled her to the exit. “Come on!” Evangeline hissed, “Let’s go before he catches up to us!”  
They turned around to see Marcil making his way through the crowd to get to them. Seeing his frustrated face, they took off, giggling all the way to class.

 

          That night when she got home, Ashya saw Belen sitting at the table, frowning into her coffee mug. She dropped her stuff by the hall tree and walked over to her. “Are you okay?” Ashya inquired.  
          Belen merely sighed and slid a small paper square over to her. It was a picture of a deep red, white, and brown house. Ashya picked up the picture and showed it to her aunt. “What’s with the house?” She demanded, although she was not entirely sure she wanted to know.  
         After what seemed to be an eternity, Belen finally whispered, “It’s our new house.”  
        A cold weight settled inside her stomach, “We are moving?” She whimpered.  
      “Yes, Ashya, we are moving.”  
                                                  Six Months Later                      
                   
That’s the last of them, Ashya sighed with relief, shutting the door to the car. She was heading to the door of their new house when her aunt yelled from somewhere in the house. “Ashya, please go get the mail.” Belen shouted.  
      Ashya groaned. “Where are the keys?” She called back.  
      “They should be on the table!”  
   Opening the door, Ashya saw her aunt stick her head out of the window and call down to her, “Never mind, Ashya, they are up here! I am going to just throw them down to you!”  
       With only a moment’s notice Ashya stretched out her hand and started towards the window, when the keys landed directly in her hand. Looking up she saw she was still a good ways away from the window and she saw that her aunt’s eyes were filled with surprise. Not waiting for an explanation, Ashya took off quickly down the street. As soon as the house was out of sight she slowed down a bit, wondering what just happened. Shaking her head she put the key into box number 8 and pulled out their mail. There was only one letter. All it said was to Belen, there wasn’t even a stamp or return address. Puzzled, Ashya closed the mail box and began walking back towards their new house, when a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back. Losing her balance she fell onto her knees, dropping the keys and the letter. She looked up at the person responsible ready to snap at them. That’s when their silver eyes met. They stared at each other for a few minutes silently observing each other. He was a guy that appeared to be only a year or so older than Andruis with short, dark, brown hair and had the same silver eyes she had.  
 “I’ve found you.” He finally whispered, breaking the silence.  
        Ashya jerked back, confused. “What? Have I met you before?” She said.  
       He laughed slightly. “Never mind that, my name is Elizar.” He said offering her a hand to help her up.  
    She accepted it and he helped her up. “My name is Ashya.” She said, still confused.  
 He smiled and murmured, “I know.”  
   She cast a sideways glance at him. “How is it you know about me?”  
He tilted his head to the side. “We are going to the same...um...high school.” He stammered.  
  “Well then…I guess I’ll see you at school.” She laughed and turned to leave when she heard him whisper, “We shall.”  
     She turned around to see him watching her.  He’s….odd, she thought with a smile. “Ashya what is taking you so long?”  Ashya heard Belen call.  
          Turning on the spot she quickly walked home to appease her aunt.


	2. Chapter 2

            He watched as she walked back up the street towards her house. He’d almost ruined it, it’s not like he’d meant to, it’s just that after all those years he had finally found her. And she had her mother in her, although she looked more like her father. Actually, upon a second look, she looked exactly like Myria did. Except Ashya has lighter skin. Myria was what most humans would call Egyptian while Ashya looked like a cross between European and Egyptian.  She had long dark auburn hair and her skin was slightly tannish.  He knew it was her by her eyes, her ice silver eyes. Unfortunately, he had also caught her mothers-sisters eyes. He waved, smirking at how she glared at him before heading up into their house after Ashya. He continued walking down their street when a man, looking very nervous, suddenly appeared. His light and happy mood instantly vanished. He strode forward and caught the man by his arm and pulled him towards the trees. He risked a look around, to see if anyone had seen them, and found that a young child that was being pulled away by their oblivious parents was staring at them. “Elizaer, is it you?” The man asked.  
          “Yes, Hashir, it’s me but here my name is Elizar.” He hissed.  
           “Is it not safe enough to use our names?” Hashir said, raising an eyebrow.  
          Elizaer sighed and shook his head. “They are not here… yet. I do not understand why that woman has not realized it is too dangerous here for the children now.”  
          “You know how Belwen is; besides she is still unsure whether the beings were after her sister or the child.”  
          “As are we, but we have concluded that this place is definitely more dangerous for them now.”  
          “Then why send them here to start with?”  
Elizaer turned his back on Hashir and watched as the sky grew darker. “It was her request, only she could have known why. It’s our task to carry out these instructions.” Elizaer drew in a deep breath. “Now, what news have you brought me?”  
          “Well, your father wants a report. The last time you gave him one was when you had just arrived here and do not make me remind you how long ago that was. Also, Luckshi had her children the day before I left; she wanted me to make sure you knew.”  
          Elizaer turned around and smiled at him. “Well, do tell Luckshi I said congratulations.”  
          Hashir merely nodded, “What about your father? What shall I tell him?”  
          Elizaer closed his eyes in defeat. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He looked to the house where Ashya was. He could not forgive himself for this but it had to be done. “Tell my father, it is almost time; any longer and it will be too late.”   
          “My lord, She” Hashir gasped only to be cut off by Elizaer.   
“As I said, the longer they are here, the stronger the beings become, and the weaker the children as well as Belwen becomes. You have to tell my father this. Go now, and be safe my friend.”  
          Hashir looked at him as if to argue then nodded and turned to face the forest. “If I may ask, why did you accept this task? Protecting them; it means being away from your home and your position. Already your brother is trying for your position.”  
          Elizaer put a hand on Hashir’s shoulder. “You already said it, my friend. Protecting them, it’s more important than anything else. Besides, I am sure my father would not let my half-brother be in his council. Also, to ease your worries, I should return within a cycle.”   
          Hashir let out a sigh of relief. “Your father will be relieved; I must go and report this to him.”  
 Elizaer watched as he ran deep into the forest, hoping his words would hold true. He walked back towards Ashya’s house, when someone suddenly jumped out of the shadows. Instinctively he reached for his sword only to remember he did not have it with him. “I told you to stay away from them; but what do you do? You come back following us. You had better not have brought that shadow that you had following you last time we met.”  
          It was Belwen; Elizaer let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding in. He gave her the usual greeting only to have her stare at him, face hard and cold. “Belwen, you cannot stay here much longer; the beings will start getting stronger and the children will get weaker. You know this, you have to start preparing.”  
          Belwen let out an offended snort. “They won’t get weaker if I take the force. Besides, they are not ready it’s too early. We need more time, Elizaer.”  
          “You have a cycle that’s all; otherwise it may be too late. If they get too close we’ll know. We both will become weaker.”  
          She gave him a blank look until it his words really dawned on her. “No! This is not your task to do! My sister told me to protect her, not you!”  
          Elizaer let her continue ranting on before he interrupted her. “Well, your sister also told me to help you. She knew when the time came you would be hesitant; but as I said, you have a cycle then they have to leave.”  
          “Okay. Okay, I give up. I will prepare them.” Belwen said in a strangled breath.   
          Elizaer, satisfied, continued walking away when she called out to him, “And what will you be doing in the meantime? You are not planning on returning yet, are you?”   
          He stopped dead in his tracks. He had not thought about that. “I do not think I should leave just yet. I guess I should help you prepare them for their departure. But goodbye for now, Belwen.”   
And with that he continued walking away from her on into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

          Just one more stroke…whoops! Sariah thought. She was in her room, painting her walls. Or at least she was trying to. Their Aunt Belen had told them to go and pick a color for their walls so they could be painted which would have been okay, but they had to do it by themselves. Sariah was good at quite a few things like first aid or sports or gardening, but painting or drawing were like a foreign language to her. So, here she was trying to paint little flowers all over her room except now one flower looks a lollipop because a little tremor shook the house and she messed up. That’s the only thing she hated about this house, it was way too close to the quarries. At least that’s what their aunt said. Leaving the brush in the paint, Sariah walked out of the room to her brother’s room. Andrius is what some would call Sariah’s fraternal twin. Although they weren’t that close. No, Andrius was closer to Ashya than Sariah because Ashya was ‘the one who needed to be protected’. He thinks she needs to be protected just because she skipped a grade. Although Ashya was 15, she would be a junior like Sariah and Andruis, who were both 16. Knocking on his door, Sariah called, “Andrius!”  
          “What?” He said, opening the door. “I was kind of in the middle of somethin’ important.”  
           He suddenly yawned making her roll her eyes, he’d been asleep. “I’m sorry if I woke you up but I need the white paint. Please?” She asked.  
          He narrowed his eyes and leaned against the doorway.  
“You are still painting your room? It’s been, like, half a year since she told us we could!” He teased.  
          She gritted her teeth, “I’ve been busy!” She snapped.  
          He laughed at her frustration. She glared at him until he stopped. “Sorry sis, I don’t have the white paint.” He chuckled and then shut the door.  
          Frustrated, Sariah went back into her room and stared at the wall, hoping that green line will just go away. Unfortunately, that’s not how the world works, so that ugly green stripe just stayed there.  
Leaving it there, figuring once it dries she’ll just cover it up; Sariah heads downstairs to grab one of the empty boxes left only to see it wasn’t empty. Inside of it there were tons of drawings as well as a weather beaten journal. She was about to open up the journal to see who’s it was, when it was snatched out of her hands. She turned around to see their aunt Belen holding the journal as though it were a child. Belen looked up at Sariah and spoke in a barely audible voice, “Don’t go through other peoples stuff!”  
          Without another glance at Sariah, Belen grabbed the box and put the journal back in it then she headed to her room and shut the door.  Sariah walked outside to find Ashya putting some weird plant into a hole in the garden. Ashya did not even look up at her but Sariah could tell she knew she was there. “What are you planting?” Sariah asked.  
          Ashya did not answer. Sariah got closer to her and took a good look at the plant and discovered it was a bushel of Forget-Me-Not’s. Sariah smiled, that was her favorite flower. Ashya patted the dirt back around it and stood up. She met Sariah’s gaze and smiled.  
“You sounded angry earlier, so I found these in a pot and decided to plant them.”   
          Sariah laughed. “Thank you, Ashya.”  
          Ashya took off the gloves she had on and simply nodded to Sariah before going inside the house. Sariah stared after her, feeling guilty for having ruined their friendship. Not too long ago, they had begun a war with each other and said things that could never be taken back. Some scars just won’t heal. This one time when Sariah had watched the Discovery channel, there had been this one show where a man had been mauled by a bear on his leg, and although he did not die or have to get his leg cut off, the wound left a nasty scar and he was never able to run again. That’s what Sariah felt had been the aftermath of their animosity. A nasty scar that left internal damage that could never be healed. And what made her feel even guiltier was she had started it.  Sariah walked up the steps back into the house and slowly walked up to her room. Opening the door, Sariah looked for the green streak on her wall, but it had disappeared. She was standing there, astonished, when Andrius poked his head through her doorway.  
“Hey, I see you found the white paint.” He pointed to the wet paint on her wall.  
      “Well anyways, Ashya and I are heading to the pool, want to come?”  
          Sariah moved closer to the wall, studying it. Andrius cleared his throat, making her turn around quickly. “Um…sure, if that’s okay with you.”  
          “Sariah, are you okay? You’re acting weird.” Andruis said cautiously.  
          “What does that mean?” She frowned.  
          Andrius backed up out of the doorway and spoke carefully to her. “Never mind, we’ll be waiting outside.”  
          Sariah changed into her swimsuit and threw on a pair of shorts and a shirt before heading out of her room. On her way down the stairs, she tripped and fell. The moment she realized what had happened she burst into tears and could not believe it. She did not start crying because of how much she hated herself or how fragile their family was becoming. It was because she tripped and fell. Trying to brush away her tears, Sariah examined the main source of pain. Her knee was bleeding. She must have scraped it when she fell. She pulled herself up and headed to the kitchen and opened the medicine cabinet. She pulled out a square bandage and placed it over her knee. Rubbing it slightly, Sariah headed out the door. She saw Ashya and Andrius sitting on the step leading up to their porch. Ashya turned around and saw her and lightly tapped Andrius on the shoulder. He turned around and flashed a smile.  
“What took you so long?” He teased.  
          “I scraped my knee on the stairs.” She replied.  
          “Can I see?” Ashya asked.  
          Sariah carefully peeled back the bandage, but there was nothing there. She stared at it for a little bit, wondering what happened. “Um…I do not see anything.” Ashya giggled.  
          Sariah shook her head. “I swear it was there.” She frowned.  
          “Are you sure you aren’t going crazy?” Andrius said raising an eyebrow.  
   
          Sariah gave him a playful shove and they started walking towards the community pool, laughing and giggling the whole way there. 


	4. Chapter 4

                                              Five months later  
“Andrius, Stop showing off!” A female voice called out.  
          Lifting his head up out of the water, Andrius saw it was just his sister, Sariah. He was doing his usual laps around the school swimming pool before their class started. He flashed a grin at her before climbing out of the water. “Shouldn’t you be over at the girl’s pool, hmm?” Andrius teased.  
          Andrius loved teasing his twin, she was always so defensive, and every time he did she gets all embarrassed about it. “Oh shut up! I was just heading there!” She hissed.  
          “Oh really, tomato face?”  
          He winced as he realized he might of taken it too far when she came over and pushed him into the deep end of the pool. Fortunately he was ready for that so he did not panic when water was suddenly rushing through his ears, although water still ended up in his lungs. He climbed out coughing to see her stalking off to the girl’s pool. He tried to hold in his laughter but couldn’t, and so he ended up lying on the concrete laughing until he became light headed, while the other students shot him queer looks as they passed. The head coach came out of his office and blew the whistle for them to get in roll call. Swim class passed by quickly and soon they had to go change back into their clothes. As the bell rang Andrius jogged to the hallway just beside the gym and waited for Sariah. Seeing her he called out to her and motioned for her to come over.  
 “Hey I was wondering,” She panted as she jogged over to him. “What are we gonna do for Ashya’s birthday? It’s next week.”  
          Andrius bit his lip. “Well, first off, ‘gonna’ is not a word,” He chuckled. “And second, Elizar is taking her somewhere that day.”  
          Sariah started grinning like an idiot. “How long do you think it will be until he asks her out?”  
          Andrius smacked her arm, causing her to punch his shoulder. “Why did you hit me?” She hissed in protest.  
          “Cause I have already spoken to Elizar about asking our 15 year old sister out!” He spoke through clenched teeth.  
          She started laughing at the way his face was. He shot her a look that he hoped would get through to her. It did not. “Well, have you talked to Ashya?” She said. “Because I’m pretty sure it’s her choice.”  
          “Not when the guy in question is a senior.” He hissed while continuing to walk away when he caught sight of Ashya walking with Elizar.  
He ran over to them and picked up Ashya. “Andrius, stop put me down!”  
It might have been serious had she not been laughing. All the same he put her down and turned his head to look at Elizar, who was also laughing. “So, Elizar, you still haven’t told me where you are taking my little sister for her birthday.”  
          Elizar shot him a look. “Well, I cannot exactly tell you while she is around. And second, I have already told her that it will be the day after her birthday.”  
          Andrius stopped walking, confused. They looked back at him. “Why?”  
          “That day needs to be spent with family. I would not take her away from that.” He had an offended look on his face, as though Andrius had accused him of it.  
          Andrius looked down at his feet. He felt guilty because the person that he thought Elizar was turned out to be wrong every time they spoke. They noticed that they were the last people in the hallway and immediately broke apart to their classes before the bell rang. For the rest of the day, Andrius had a sick and guilty feeling in his stomach for how he usually treated Elizar. When the final bell rang, he walked slowly towards the entrance of the school and saw Ashya sitting on the steps with Elizar and Sariah. They were laughing about something. He stopped awhile back and just watched them. Ashya lifted her head up and looked at him before getting up and running over to him. “What are you doing all the way back here? Come over with us.”  
          She pulled on his hand until he started walking over to them. “Look what I found hiding in the shadows!” She laughed.  
          Andrius met Elizar’s eyes and they both nodded to each other. Sariah gave him a curious look but did not push the subject, instead she said, “I think it’s time we headed home.”  
          Andrius sighed. “Sure.”  
          They got up and started heading away when Elizar called out, “Andrius wait a second.”  
          Andrius turned around and walked back over to Elizar. “Yes?”  
          “Well, seeing as you have a right to know, the day after her birthday, I am planning to take Ashya to this place called High Rock. It is the highest point in the city, but it is not too far and it is the best place to view the stars.”  
          Andrius turned his head and looked at him and grinned. “She’ll love that, Elizar.”  
          Elizar returned a small smile. “I just wanted to let you know, bye.”  
          He turned away and began walking in the other direction while Andrius stared after him before going to catch up with his sisters. Sariah smiled as he came over, noticing his bad mood had instantly evaporated. “Let’s race home!” Ashya exclaimed, jumping up and down.  
          Sariah and Andrius began laughing at her. “Okay, on my count.” Andrius started in a game show voice.  
“3…2…1…Go!”  
          They took off like a bullets and in the end, Ashya won the race by barely an inch. They collapsed on the porch laughing and panting, when their aunt pulled in the driveway. She gave them an amused look and leaned against the car with her arms folded. “So…I take it your guy’s day was okay?” She pointed out.  
          They all nodded, to which she smiled and sighed, “Well go get ready for practice.”  
          Sariah and Ashya groaned and got up to go get ready.  
           
          Belen looked at Andrius. “You have practice too, you know.”  
          He nodded and got up and headed in after them, whistling a tune he heard Ashya humming earlier. Ever since they moved here, Belen had been encouraging them to learn new stuff. He had taken up learning how to use a sword and how to navigate while Sariah started taking all these health and gardening classes. He grinned as he headed up stairs, remembering when she had joined this one tree club. He and Ashya had teased her about it. Well, Andrius did most of the teasing, but Ashya brought it up so many times that Sariah got annoyed by it. As Andrius changed into his practice clothes for his sword class he thought about how Ashya’s classes were so different from theirs. Ashya became a master at Archery, Elizar taught her how to use two long knives; she also learned more about weather and chemistry than they did. He grabbed his practice sword from his closet and headed down to the car. Sariah, Ashya, and Belen were already there sitting on the steps. Sariah dressed for her gardening class and Ashya ready for archery class with her bow and her quiver with its arrows. Upon seeing him, Belen started the car and they all got in. As they headed towards the big athletic center, Andrius watched as the scenery went by, it all turning into a long green and brown blob.


	5. Chapter 5

“Are you sure this is safe?” Ashya called out to her trainer.  
He was teaching her how to listen more for moving objects by blindfolding her and putting her in the training room with the moving targets. He was not in the room; he was outside of the reinforced glass. So much for optimism, she thought. “Of course!” She heard him call from outside. “Just shoot at the target and don’t forget to listen.”  
          Ashya gritted her teeth and pulled an arrow out of her quiver. Feeling its long feathers, she notched it in the bow and pulled back on it. “Ready!” She called out.  
          She heard the whirring of the machines and got ready to aim. Back when she started archery, her trainer had put her in this room to learn how to shoot a moving target. She had to do this process so many times that she could recall from memory where they would be. She heard the first one and turned towards it and shot it. Not caring if it hit she waited to hear the second move to the right and then shot it. This went on till she heard the machine stop and for her trainer to start clapping. She pulled off the blindfold and after letting her eyes adjust to the light, she saw that all of the arrows except one hit where they were supposed to. The one that did not was still close but not where the bull’s eye was. “That was wonderful for the first time!” He shouted.  
          Not saying anything she went and pulled her arrows out of the targets and put them back into her quiver. She turned to face her trainer who was looking at his watch. “Well, I think that is all the new techniques for today. I think you should go outside and practice your ranged shooting. Go through all of the range and then come back.”  
          She nodded and grabbed her bow and headed out towards the archery range and set up for the first target. In the distance she could see where the swordsmanship classes were taking place, knowing Andrius would be over there. By the time she had finished the range, the sun was starting to set. Letting out a breath of irritation, she sprinted back to the enclosed area. That range had taken a little bit longer than she expected and she was probably was the last one to be finished. Sure enough, when she reached the entrance, Sariah and Andrius were standing there talking. They noticed her and opened the door for her. “So, you had a new trainer today?” Sariah inquired.  
          Ashya looked at her, confused, when her trainer came up and started speaking to them. “Yes, I’m Mr. Erickson.” He said.  
          What? How could I not have noticed that? Ashya thought. Andrius nodded and they said goodbye as they headed out towards the car. Belen already had the car started and was leaning against it until she saw them. “What took you so long?” She snapped.  
          Startled, they froze where they were, until Belen realized why and got in the car. They followed her lead and got into the car. They knew what happened every time she got like this. Either one of them was in serious trouble or they were going to move again. To their surprise, when they got home, she just went inside to her room. They sat in the car in silence. “What do you think is wrong?” Sariah asked.  
          Personally, Ashya thought their aunt looked a little pale and tired, but she did not want Sariah to yell at her. Instead she whispered, “I do not know.”  
          “Do you think we are going to have to move again?” Andrius whispered back.  
          At this, they all fell silent. Ashya, not being able to bear it, opened the car door and got out. “I do not know if you guys noticed it,” Ashya took a deep breath. “But she looked a little sick to me. And she did not seem like her usual self.”  
          She waited for them to get mad or tell her to be quiet, but they didn’t. They just sat there not saying anything. “We should probably go inside before she notices we’re still out here.” Andrius sighed, getting out of the car and opening Sariah’s door.  
          “Maybe she isn’t feeling well, maybe you’re right Ashya. She might be feeling ill.” Sariah let out and deep breathe.  
          “Whatever it is, we should not ponder on it too much. She might get angry.” Ashya said before heading inside the house, not seeing if they followed her.  
          She ran up to her room and put her bow and quiver away before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. When she came out she got dressed and laid down. Since her bed was next to the window, she stared out into the night sky. She sat up and closed her eyes, wishing for a miracle that could change their lives. When she opened her eyes she saw several balls of light shooting across the sky. She jumped back away from the window in surprise. Must be a meteor shower, she thought. Although, calling it a meteor shower did not feel right. She watched it until her eyes felt heavy and then laid her head back on the pillow and continued watching them shoot across the sky. She fell asleep before they were out of sight.  
          She was in a meadow…yet…. she was not alone. A woman was there with her. She walked hesitantly towards her. The woman tilted her head up to her, her eyes filled with sadness and fear. “Who…Who are you?” Ashya whispered.  
          “You would not know my name or who I am but I know you, Ashya.” Her voice was more musical than normal.  
 If that could even be considered normal. The woman stood up to face Ashya. “I don’t have much time.” The woman whispered. “But, you must take care. It will be hard these upcoming times. He will help you don’t worry.”   
          She started to fade away, her form beginning to blend with the colors of the area. Ashya took a step forward to her. “Wait, please! I do not understand! Why must I be careful?” She called out.   
          The woman’s eyes shined a brilliant green. “Beware, little one, they are coming.” Her voice blended with the wind that threatened to knock her down.  
          Ashya woke up with a start, her breathing quick and strained. A million thoughts began to pulse throughout her brain. She put her hand on her head and sank back into her bed. But who are they? She wanted to ask aloud, hoping maybe someone would tell her. She shook her head. Don’t be stupid, it was just a dream. By the time this started going through her head, her breathing was still strained and fast. She pressed her hand against her throat, trying to find a way to relax. It was quite a while before her breathing did slow down, yet she wasn’t too concerned about it. She looked out her window at the rapidly brightening sky, when a knock came on her door. She rose up out of her bed and went and opened her door. Outside of it was Belen, her eyes filled with worry.  
“What happened?” She whispered.  
“I don’t know, I had a dream and then I woke up and it was like I couldn’t breathe.” Ashya gasped.  
Belen stared at her for a little while before turning to leave. “You are not going to school today; I’m taking you to the doctor.”  
          Ashya groaned and leaned against the door. Although she just had a weird experience, Ashya was more focused on the dream. But, what if it was not just a dream? What then?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-  
            Elizaer was walking through the streets when a tremor swept through the city. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. He knew he hit something sharp when he felt a staggering pain on his face. Gingerly, he put a hand up to his face finding a cut tracing his left cheekbone. He pulled his hand back to find it coated in blood. He tried to stand up only to have his knees give out, he cast a glance at his hands to find them shaking. They are getting closer, he realized, then pulled himself up using a nearby pole for support. He walked slowly continuing his useless patrol of this city. It was nothing like his original patrolling back home, this city was massive compared to his home. He would not warn them, not until he was sure it was safe. He could not nor would not endanger them. So now here he was again, walking, feeling useless in every possible way, and not caring that the people stared at him as he passed.  
            It was early dawn when he finished his patrol, finally deciding it was safe enough to go near them. The cut he had gained last night was sealing up and the blood had dried. He found a public restroom where he cleaned the cut and changed into different clothes. He sighed and leaned against the wall, reaching a hand into his pocket so he could pull out a weather beaten journal. He stood there staring at it for the longest time before feeling confident once more about his task and shoving it back into his pocket. He strode out of the restrooms and headed to the house where he would find Belwen. He stood outside of the house for the longest time, staring at the driveway realizing that there was school today. He sat down and put his head in his hands. How could I have been so stupid! I am supposed to be there for Ashya. Scolding thoughts like those running through his head, each one bringing his mood down. While he was doing this, Belwen pulled up in the car. He stood up, waiting for her to walk over. When she did, she glared at him, her eyes piercing his soul.  
            “Why are you here, Elizaer?” She said in a very condescending tone.  
            “Belwen, they are getting closer, I can feel their presence.” He whispered.  
            “Well, I’m not weak at all, now if you excuse me, I have to take Ashya to the doctor.”  
            Elizaer looked up at her window and even took a step towards the house before turning his head towards Belwen. “Why?” He asked.  
            Belwen merely shrugged before heading inside and shutting the door. Figuring he had better leave before Ashya came out and found him here, Elizaer headed away towards the forest, he’d rather spend his day there then patrol the city again. He leaned against a tree and closed his eyes, letting the sounds of the forest lure him to sleep.  
            It was late mid-day when he finally woke up; the sky was already beginning to darken. Elizaer pulled himself up from the ground and began walking back out of the forest towards the street where the house was. Right as he came out of the undergrowth, he saw Sariah and Andruis coming up the street. They saw him and came running up. “Elizar, why weren’t you at school today?” Andruis exclaimed.  
            Elizaer grimaced, he hadn’t even thought of a reason why. “I was not feeling well.” He said, lamely.  
            Sariah looked like she was going to argue when Ashya walked out of the house. His heart immediately dropped when he saw her. Her eyes were red as though she had been crying, her skin was pale, and she was shaking. Elizaer immediately knew why Belwen was not feeling as weak as he was; Ashya was getting taking the full force of their arrival. “How was school?”  
            Her voice dropped to a whisper at the word school. “Forget school, how are you?” Andruis chocked out.  
            Ashya looked down at her hands, ignoring the question. “My day was fine, Ashya, how was yours?” Sariah said.  
            Ashya cast a glare at her. “Well my lungs keep constricting, but, you know, my day was perfect!” She hissed before she broke out coughing.  
            Elizaer felt his breath leave him; he hadn’t realized it was this bad. “What does that mean?” He inquired.  
            She shrugged. “As of right now, it means nothing. But they said it would only get worse and would limit me from doing certain things. So you guys want to go to the park?”  
            All at once they started yelling at her, yet she began laughing. “Guys, I pretty sure it will be fine if I go to the park, so can we?” She chuckled.  
            Seeing that Andruis and Sariah were still steaming, Elizaer said, “Sure, let’s go.”  
            Sariah turned to glare at him and was about to say something but Ashya grabbed her arm and they all headed to the park. Although she seemed severely depressed at her situation, Ashya still managed to smile at them and laugh. She never failed to puzzle Elizaer, or to make him learn something new. When they reached the park, they found it strangely empty, though they expected this because the weather wasn’t completely favorable. Suddenly, Ashya started jumping up and down. “Let’s see who can go the highest on the swings!” She giggled.  
            “You’re on!” Andruis shouted, scaring the nearby birds.  
            Once they were all on the swings, Ashya began counting down.  
            “3….2...1. Go!” She laughed.  
            Elizaer was about to kick off, when someone grabbed his shoulder. He turned around quickly ready to fight, when he saw it was just Hashir. The others noticed and immediately got off the swings. Hashir stared at Ashya as she ran to Elizaer’s side. “Who is he, Elizar?” She asked.  
            When she said this, Hashir’s eyes filled with sadness. Elizaer took a deep breath. “He’s my….brother.” He whispered and Hashir nodded.  
            “Yes, I just came to talk to him. That’s all.” Hashir started walking away, trusting Elizaer would follow him.  
            Elizaer cast a guilty glance at Ashya before sprinting to catch up with Hashir. He stepped in front of him preventing him from going any further. “Why did you come to me in front of them?” He panted.  
            “I had to talk to you immediately. Besides, nothing went wrong.” Hashir waved away Elizaer’s protests.  
            “Well, I am here, what do you need?” Elizaer hissed.  
            Hashir sighed. “The shadows are getting closer. I had to fight one as soon as I got here. Its companions fled soon afterwards, but they will be back. You know what must happen.”  
            “You never visit bringing good news or news that I did not already know.”  
            “What! Elizaer, you already knew? But how?”  
            Elizaer turned towards Hashir, showing the cut along his cheekbone. “I am getting weaker. So is Ashya, I do not know how, but she is getting weaker instead of Belwen.”  
            Hashir closed his eyes, processing this information. “Ashya is powerful, that is the only conclusion I can make.” He nodded.  
            Elizaer rolled his eyes. “Well, it is not like that was obvious from the beginning.”                               
            “Your father is awaiting your return…..and theirs. You are running out of time. We all fear the worst may happen if the-.”  
            Elizaer cut him off. “Listen, now is not the time to be rushing. This is a far too complicated matter to rush.”  
            “You should here yourself, you sound like your father.” Hashir laughed, awkwardly.  
            Elizaer gave him a confused look. Hashir’s odd behavior had not gone unnoticed. “What is wrong, my friend?” He whispered.  
            “Well……they have to come home soon, or else war might break out, that is all I can say. Your father knows, he will tell you, but this is the last time I will be here. So please return soon.” That was all He said before turning and walking away.       
            Elizaer stood there knowing how very little time was left. War might break out….what does that mean? The only thing he could conclude was that they were desperately needed, and he felt enormous waves of guilt and sadness at this. Hopefully all would go according to plan. 


	7. Chapter 7

            Like an alarm clock, Sariah ran into his room doing everything from poking to punching to get him up. “Andruis, wake up, we got to go!” She shouted.  
            He sat up quickly, wondering where they had to go. “Oh, that got you up, huh?” She teased.  
            He groaned and sank back into his bed, realizing she had baited him. “Did you forget what today is?” She hissed.  
            “What?” He said hoarsely.  
            For some reason he got a pillow in his face for saying that. “Oh, you know, it’s just your little sisters sixteenth birthday, nothing major!” She yelled.  
            This time he got up and stared at her before pushing her out of his room, ignoring her protests, and getting dressed. He then reached under his bed for a wrapped present and then walked down stairs with it behind his back. He walked into the kitchen to see Sariah blowing up balloons and Belen playing with a confetti shooter. “Where is Ashya?” He inquired.  
            Belen looked up at him. “She has already left with Elizar.” She said.  
            “I thought he was going to take her to that place tomorrow?” He pointed out.  
            “Well, I told him he could take her today!” She snapped. “Now in the meantime, you could help put these up.” She continued, showing him the confetti shooters.  
            Andruis stared blankly at her. Belen smiled up at him. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She chuckled while giving him the shooters.  
            “It was my idea.” Sariah scowled at him. “I thought it would be a nice surprise.”  
            “Sure, until we have to clean it up.” Andruis grumbled.  
            All the same, he went to the living room where these beads were hanging from the ceiling. He shook his head before going through them into the living room where he started putting the confetti up in each of the corners. He was working on the last one when Sariah walked in. “Um…Elizar told me to tell you that he’s taking Ashya to the same place.” She said awkwardly.  
            He merely nodded in response. “Anyways, can you please help me make dinner?” She begged.  
            Andruis turned around and folded his arms. “Sariah, you go to the garden, I cook.” He said.  
            He watched as hurt flashed across her face before anger settled in. “Fine, I get it! I can’t cook whatever!” She hissed before stalking outside.  
            He watched her go, laughing silently. He knew he would pay for that later gut he did not care. Putting up the tools he had been using, he went to the kitchen, preparing to make the food.  
It was later that night when everything was ready and Ashya had already called saying Elizar would be dropping her off soon. They turned off all the lights and hid in the corners of the living room, waiting for her to get home. After a little while Andruis heard the door open and Ashya calling out, “Hello…..you guys?”  
            She turned on the hallway light and began walking towards the living room. When she was only a couple of feet away, they all jumped out at her. She screamed loudly while they laughed at her. “Not funny you guys!” She gasped.  
            Andruis hugged her, still laughing at her face. Sariah grabbed her arm and pulled her to the living room while they followed. As they got there, confetti shot out at them. They had her open her gifts from each of them. She pulled out the black and gold wooden bracelet Andruis had made and admired it. She turned and beamed up at him, causing him to get red in the face. “So we each have something to remember each other by.” He explained.  
            She hugged him as he and Sariah both showed theirs. She put it on before opening the other two. Sariah gave her a leather-bound journal while Belen gave her a gold key on a black chain. While she was holding it in her hand, Andruis thought he saw some of the color return to her face. Then she hugged them both before going upstairs to put them up. When she came back down, Andruis noticed she had the necklace on. “So, what did Elizar get you?” He asked slyly.  
            She glared up at him. “What?” He asked innocently.  
            “He did not have to; I actually prefer he did not. He is already a really good friend, what more can I ask of him?” She hissed.  
            He held up his arms and backed away. “Okay, I’m sorry!” He said peacefully.  
            “Are you going to eat dinner?” He asked.  
            She flashed him a half smile. “Depends…who cooked?”  
            They burst out laughing and headed towards the dining room when a loud and hurried knock came at the door. Ashya started towards the door, but Andruis stopped her. “Wait here I’ll get the door.”  
            He rushed to the door and pulled it open to see Elizar leaning against the door frame, bleeding from a wound in his side. “Please, get Belwen…I mean…Belen.” He gasped.  
            “Belen! Ashya, get the first-aid kit and a rag!” Andruis yelled into the house.  
            He helped Elizar sit down before trying to stem the flow of blood. When Ashya came running up he took the rag from her and pressed it against the wound. Elizar winced in response; Andruis saw that he was getting paler and his muscles were tensed up. Belen finally came up behind Ashya and upon seeing Elizar she pushed Andruis out of the way and started digging in the med kit. She looked up at Andruis. “Take Ashya into the house! I’ll take care of him.” She said.  
            Andruis grabbed Ashya, who was standing their frozen in place, and pulled her inside. As they got to the living room, Sariah rushed up. “Andruis what is going on?” She asked.  
            He shook his head. “Something happened to Elizar, but I don’t know anything other than that.”  
            Suddenly, Belen walked through, helping Elizar walk. They were whispering he couldn’t here until they got closer. “…not safe anymore, you have to tell them.”  
            “Look, I know but right now my main concern is you!” Belen whispered back.  
            Belen noticed him standing there and shot him a look. “You should probably wash your hands, Andruis.”  
No matter how gentle she said it, it wasn’t a recommendation, it was an order. He did as he was told and went to the kitchen and washed the blood off of his hands. Sariah eventually came in and leaned against the counter next to him. “Andruis, I…I don’t know what to do!” She said, tears running down her face. “I mean he’s critically injured and”  
She made to continue but Andruis cut her off. “We just have to listen to them, which is all we can do.”  
            He grabbed her and pulled her towards the living room where Belen, who was taping her foot rapidly, Elizar, who looked uncomfortable, and Ashya, who looked a mix between scared and confused. “I know tonight is probably not the right time to bring this up, but we’ve run out of time and it has to happen.” She shook her head.  
            “Time for what, exactly? And what happened to Elizar? What are you not telling us?” Ashya’s voice cracked on his name.  
            Belen shifted in her seat while Elizar winced. “Well, I guess I had better start with the most basic information, right?” She asked Elizar.  
            He shook his head than grimaced. “No, they can handle it.” He gasped.  
            “Don’t talk about us like we aren’t here!” Andruis heard himself say.  
            He was surprised he was able to say even that much. “Fine, the first thing you guys need to know is that you were not born here.” She licked her lips.  
            Andruis rolled his eyes. “Well that’s blatantly obvious!” Ashya pointed out. “We did just move here after all.” She added weakly.  
            Belen put her head in her hands. “No, that is not what I meant; I meant you guys were not born her on this earth!” She cried out.  
            Andruis felt his breath leave his lungs. He heard someone say his name, maybe Ashya or Sariah or someone else, but he couldn’t respond. Time suddenly seemed to slow down for him and he was finding it difficult to breathe. “What do you mean?” He whispered.  
            His body was all tensed up, as though bracing for a horrible answer. “Please, calm down. Let us explain.” Elizar said breathlessly.  
Against his better judgement, Andruis said through clenched teeth, “Fine.”  
Chapter 7-Andrius  
   
            Like an alarm clock, Sariah ran into his room doing everything from poking to punching to get him up. “Andruis, wake up, we got to go!” She shouted.  
            He sat up quickly, wondering where they had to go. “Oh, that got you up, huh?” She teased.  
            He groaned and sank back into his bed, realizing she had baited him. “Did you forget what today is?” She hissed.  
            “What?” He said hoarsely.  
            For some reason he got a pillow in his face for saying that. “Oh, you know, it’s just your little sisters sixteenth birthday, nothing major!” She yelled.  
            This time he got up and stared at her before pushing her out of his room, ignoring her protests, and getting dressed. He then reached under his bed for a wrapped present and then walked down stairs with it behind his back. He walked into the kitchen to see Sariah blowing up balloons and Belen playing with a confetti shooter. “Where is Ashya?” He inquired.  
            Belen looked up at him. “She has already left with Elizar.” She said.  
            “I thought he was going to take her to that place tomorrow?” He pointed out.  
            “Well, I told him he could take her today!” She snapped. “Now in the meantime, you could help put these up.” She continued, showing him the confetti shooters.  
            Andruis stared blankly at her. Belen smiled up at him. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She chuckled while giving him the shooters.  
            “It was my idea.” Sariah scowled at him. “I thought it would be a nice surprise.”  
            “Sure, until we have to clean it up.” Andruis grumbled.  
            All the same, he went to the living room where these beads were hanging from the ceiling. He shook his head before going through them into the living room where he started putting the confetti up in each of the corners. He was working on the last one when Sariah walked in. “Um…Elizar told me to tell you that he’s taking Ashya to the same place.” She said awkwardly.  
            He merely nodded in response. “Anyways, can you please help me make dinner?” She begged.  
            Andruis turned around and folded his arms. “Sariah, you go to the garden, I cook.” He said.  
            He watched as hurt flashed across her face before anger settled in. “Fine, I get it! I can’t cook whatever!” She hissed before stalking outside.  
            He watched her go, laughing silently. He knew he would pay for that later gut he did not care. Putting up the tools he had been using, he went to the kitchen, preparing to make the food.  
It was later that night when everything was ready and Ashya had already called saying Elizar would be dropping her off soon. They turned off all the lights and hid in the corners of the living room, waiting for her to get home. After a little while Andruis heard the door open and Ashya calling out, “Hello…..you guys?”  
            She turned on the hallway light and began walking towards the living room. When she was only a couple of feet away, they all jumped out at her. She screamed loudly while they laughed at her. “Not funny you guys!” She gasped.  
            Andruis hugged her, still laughing at her face. Sariah grabbed her arm and pulled her to the living room while they followed. As they got there, confetti shot out at them. They had her open her gifts from each of them. She pulled out the black and gold wooden bracelet Andruis had made and admired it. She turned and beamed up at him, causing him to get red in the face. “So we each have something to remember each other by.” He explained.  
            She hugged him as he and Sariah both showed theirs. She put it on before opening the other two. Sariah gave her a leather-bound journal while Belen gave her a gold key on a black chain. While she was holding it in her hand, Andruis thought he saw some of the color return to her face. Then she hugged them both before going upstairs to put them up. When she came back down, Andruis noticed she had the necklace on. “So, what did Elizar get you?” He asked slyly.  
            She glared up at him. “What?” He asked innocently.  
            “He did not have to; I actually prefer he did not. He is already a really good friend, what more can I ask of him?” She hissed.  
            He held up his arms and backed away. “Okay, I’m sorry!” He said peacefully.  
            “Are you going to eat dinner?” He asked.  
            She flashed him a half smile. “Depends…who cooked?”  
            They burst out laughing and headed towards the dining room when a loud and hurried knock came at the door. Ashya started towards the door, but Andruis stopped her. “Wait here I’ll get the door.”  
            He rushed to the door and pulled it open to see Elizar leaning against the door frame, bleeding from a wound in his side. “Please, get Belwen…I mean…Belen.” He gasped.  
            “Belen! Ashya, get the first-aid kit and a rag!” Andruis yelled into the house.  
            He helped Elizar sit down before trying to stem the flow of blood. When Ashya came running up he took the rag from her and pressed it against the wound. Elizar winced in response; Andruis saw that he was getting paler and his muscles were tensed up. Belen finally came up behind Ashya and upon seeing Elizar she pushed Andruis out of the way and started digging in the med kit. She looked up at Andruis. “Take Ashya into the house! I’ll take care of him.” She said.  
            Andruis grabbed Ashya, who was standing their frozen in place, and pulled her inside. As they got to the living room, Sariah rushed up. “Andruis what is going on?” She asked.  
            He shook his head. “Something happened to Elizar, but I don’t know anything other than that.”  
            Suddenly, Belen walked through, helping Elizar walk. They were whispering he couldn’t here until they got closer. “…not safe anymore, you have to tell them.”  
            “Look, I know but right now my main concern is you!” Belen whispered back.  
            Belen noticed him standing there and shot him a look. “You should probably wash your hands, Andruis.”  
No matter how gentle she said it, it wasn’t a recommendation, it was an order. He did as he was told and went to the kitchen and washed the blood off of his hands. Sariah eventually came in and leaned against the counter next to him. “Andruis, I…I don’t know what to do!” She said, tears running down her face. “I mean he’s critically injured and”  
She made to continue but Andruis cut her off. “We just have to listen to them, which is all we can do.”  
            He grabbed her and pulled her towards the living room where Belen, who was taping her foot rapidly, Elizar, who looked uncomfortable, and Ashya, who looked a mix between scared and confused. “I know tonight is probably not the right time to bring this up, but we’ve run out of time and it has to happen.” She shook her head.  
            “Time for what, exactly? And what happened to Elizar? What are you not telling us?” Ashya’s voice cracked on his name.  
            Belen shifted in her seat while Elizar winced. “Well, I guess I had better start with the most basic information, right?” She asked Elizar.  
            He shook his head than grimaced. “No, they can handle it.” He gasped.  
            “Don’t talk about us like we aren’t here!” Andruis heard himself say.  
            He was surprised he was able to say even that much. “Fine, the first thing you guys need to know is that you were not born here.” She licked her lips.  
            Andruis rolled his eyes. “Well that’s blatantly obvious!” Ashya pointed out. “We did just move here after all.” She added weakly.  
            Belen put her head in her hands. “No, that is not what I meant; I meant you guys were not born her on this earth!” She cried out.  
            Andruis felt his breath leave his lungs. He heard someone say his name, maybe Ashya or Sariah or someone else, but he couldn’t respond. Time suddenly seemed to slow down for him and he was finding it difficult to breathe. “What do you mean?” He whispered.  
            His body was all tensed up, as though bracing for a horrible answer. “Please, calm down. Let us explain.” Elizar said breathlessly.  
Against his better judgement, Andruis said through clenched teeth, “Fine.”


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter-8 Ashya  
          “Well, this place is called the Terian dimension, now let me finish, and it belongs to the non-magical beings like humans.” Belen said.  
          Ashya just stared at her, as though she was crazy. Seeing that no one said anything, Elizar started talking next. “Then there is the Aetherian dimension, which, to put it simply, is home to the magical creatures like Elves and Dragons. There are other creatures but that is for another time.” He explained.  
          Ashya turned her head to look at Sariah and Andrius. They were both wearing angry expressions on their face, clearly not going to say a word. “So why are we not there?” Ashya humored.  
          Belen shot her a disapproving glare. “Because of whom you are, Ashya. And also because of whom your mother is.” She said sharply.  
          Before Ashya could respond, Belen said. “Your mother was a very powerful wizard and I am not going to lie to you and tell you that there is no evil in the Aether, because there are great and power-hungry beings there. Anyhow, these beings are after either you or your mother or maybe even both of you. That is where Elizae- I mean Elizar and I come in. We are supposed to protect you. All of you guys really, but mainly you, Ashya.”  
          Ashya flinched, clearly taken aback. “Do you not have to protect them just as much, why just me?” She asked.  
          “Well, you are my sister’s daughter.” Belen said indifferently.  
          Sariah and Andrius both cried out at once. “Isn’t she our sister?”  
          Elizar shook his head. “I am afraid not, now you see this is the complicated part. In order to protect all of you, we had to make you closer as a whole. In order to do that, we had to say you three were siblings but in reality you are merely cousins.” He sighed.  
          “And why exactly should we believe you?” Sariah choked out. “How do we know you are not lying to us?”  
          “Why would we lie about this?” Belen said exactly as Elizar said. “You all are in danger.”  
          “Why are we in danger?” Ashya whispered.  
          “Well, to start you guys are not humans. Another point is you are non-humans or magical in the human dimension.” Elizar said calmly.  
          “I can’t believe this…..if we aren’t humans then what are we?” Sariah said.  
          “You and Andruis are Wizards, Drakai, and Benders. Ashya is an Elf, a Wizard, and a Drakai.”  
          Suddenly, not being able to take it anymore, Ashya stood up quickly and ran upstairs, ignoring how they called her name. She shut her door and locked it before going to the corner of the room and sitting there. She knew that her behavior was childish, but she could not fully grasp or believe what they were saying at this point. “Ashya, please listen to us, come back downstairs.” It was Belen.  
          “Why should I? So far everything in our lives has been a lie! How can we even trust either one of you?” Ashya cried.  
          “Both Elizaer and I swore to protect you. Now you probably do not know anything about magic but-.”  
          “You are right! I know nothing about magic and I really do not want to! All I want is for this to go away.”    
          “It cannot I am afraid. And besides, Elizaer would have to leave to. Then there would be no one to protect you.”  
          “Why do you keep calling him Elizaer?”  
          There was a long silence before Belen answered. “Ashya, that is his real name…just like my real name is Belwen.”  
          Ashya suddenly felt as though the walls were pressing in on her so she did not answer her aunt. “Ashya please just come out. This was the only way we could protect you from them!” Her aunt’s voice was getting more desperate.  
          Ashya slowly got up and walked towards the door. “Who is ‘them’?” She asked leaning against the wall.  
          “Open the door and we will tell you.”  
          Ashya backed away from the door. “Never mind I do not want to know.”  
          “Ashya open this door, now!”   
          “No, I do not trust you.”  
          “They are the ones who attacked Elizaer!”  
          Ashya froze, her every instinct to scream for her to open that door. Finally she gave in; she opened the door to see her aunt standing there. Ashya crossed her arms and waited for her aunt to start speaking. “They are beings of pure evil that rival the stars. Although they can cross over to this dimension, their form is limited to a shadow. In the Aether they take on the form of Elves except with fully black eyes. Why they are after you and your mother is unknown to us.”  
          “Why do you not call them by their names?”  
            Belen ran her hands through her hair before answering. “In this dimension, simply saying their title will allow them to find you. Saying their true name, well, let me just say there are worse things than death.”  
          “You said they rival the stars. What does that mean?”  
          “The stars are the souls of our past. Almost all of the races know this. They can talk to us and guide us. However this is only true for the Aether; in the Terian dimension, they are just balls of light, nothing more. Yet for some reason, they have followed us wherever we have gone.”  
          “Maybe they know we do not belong here?”  
Ashya sighed. “Elizaer said that Andrius and Sariah are just my cousins, so are you their mother?” She looked into Belwen’s eyes.  
          Belwen smiled. “Yes, although I do have a brother, you are correct. Sariah and Andrius are my children. I brought them here with you and I want them to go back with you, Ashya.”  
          Ashya suddenly felt wind rush past her and the door instantly slammed shut. She whipped around to see a shadowy form pull itself through the window. She stood there, watching as it came closer. She heard Elizaer say, “Belwen, they have found us, we need to leave!”  
          Ashya slowly sank to the ground feeling as though her life was being drained from her body. She desperately tried to open the door, but her strength kept failing her. The shadow was almost touching her now. With the last of her strength and energy, Ashya flipped the lock on her door. The last thing she saw before blacking out was figures rushing into the room. She felt arms pick her up and heard voices saying something, but what they were saying was indescribable. And then darkness fell over her.  
After Ashya had opened the door, they all had rushed through the door to see one of them in the middle of her room and Ashya was unconscious. Andrius stood there frozen as Belwen and Elizaer, as they had learned their names, tried to get rid of the thing. “Take Ashya and run to the forest!” Elizaer yelled at Andrius and Sariah.  
          They did as they were told. As they left the house and ran down the street to the tree line, they heard slashes of metal and eerie screams. Andrius looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms and felt his heart sink as he realized, everything has changed.  
          Ashya woke to see the stars. And she smelled smoke. She heard quiet whispers and pants. She felt the ground beneath her and sat up. Looking around, she saw Andrius and Sariah sitting with their face in their hands. She saw their house. It was lit up with fire. Ashya stood up and took a step towards the house, when Andrius stopped her. “Ashya, it’s too dangerous.” He whispered.  
          “Where are Belwen and Elizaer?” She asked, turning her head to look at him.  
          Neither of the twins said anything. Ashya felt tears well up in her eyes. “We cannot just sit here and do nothing!” She cried.  
          “What can we do?” Sariah snapped.  
          “Nothing, it’s too late.” Andrius said.  
          Ashya pulled away from his grasp and ran towards the burning house. As soon as she got there she saw Belwen pulling Elizaer out of the house. “Ashya, what are you doing here? Run!” Belwen said once she had spotted Ashya.  
          Ignoring her aunt’s command, Ashya ran over to her and helped her carry Elizaer to the tree line. Once there, Elizaer pulled himself up with the help of a tree. “We must…..get …to the…portal.” Elizaer gasped out. “Once there….it will… recognize…their blood….and open.”  
          Belwen nodded and grabbed the girls while Andrius helped Elizaer walk. They had not gone too far into the forest when they came upon a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a pond. Belwen suddenly looked around quickly. “Stay here, I will be back. Elizaer have them open the portal.” She said before running back into the trees.  
          “Wait!” Sariah called out, but it was useless, she was already gone.  
          “Andrius please set me down.” Elizaer said.  
          Ashya saw that his wound was bleeding again and was worse than before. He saw she had noticed it and immediately put his hand over to cover it. “This pond is the portal. It will only activate by blood from a creature from the Aether. It will need blood from all of you if we are to go through.” Elizaer said, as he took out a small knife.  
          “Here, cut your hand and then place it on top of the pond.” He passed the knife to Sariah.  
          Sariah, hesitantly, made a small cut on the palm of her hand. Andrius did the same. When it was Ashya’s turn she winced at the sharp pain of her skin being cut. After cleaning the knife she handed it back to Elizaer who put it away. “Now, place your hands on the pond, I will do the same.” He said.  
          Elizaer took his hand of his wound and placed it on the ice covering the pond. They followed his lead. As soon as Ashya’s hand was on the ice, the pond began to thaw and the water began to become even brighter, until they were staring at a pool of ice blue water. Elizaer stood up.  
          “We cannot wait for Belwen any longer. I will go through first, with my sword, and then Sariah, then Andrius, then Ashya.”  
          They watched as he places both of his hands on the surface of the water than pressed his face into the water. Suddenly, he began to glow and fade away. They all stood there, surprised. Andrius was the first to recover, so he grabbed Sariah and helped her place her hands on the water before she put her face in it. Immediately after she was gone, Belwen came running up carrying a large brown bag. She was halfway towards them when one of the shadows appeared in front of her. Unfortunately, Ashya could barely call out to her aunt, before it used its sword to stab her in her stomach. Time slowed down for Ashya as she watched her aunt slice the thing, killing it, before falling down on the ground. Thinking of nothing else, Ashya ran towards Belwen. When she reached her, Belwen was gasping and she was pale. “Ashya take these.” She said thrusting the bag into Ashya’s arms. “I am sorry I cannot go any further.”  
          Ashya felt tears spilling down her cheeks. “No don’t say that! We just have to get you through the portal.” She choked out.  
          Belwen smiled at her. “I am afraid this is it for me, little Ashya. Make me a promise, that you will destroy whoever is after you all. And protect Andrius and Sariah for me, please?”  
          “I will.”  
          Now Belwen was crying as well. “If only your mother could see how strong and brave you are. Go, little one, they are coming.” And with that, Belwen took her last breath and dissolved into orange and gray ash that flew into the night.  
          Tying the bags strings to her wrist, Ashya placed her hands on the surface of the pond. As she placed her head in the water, the world faded into light. With one last glimpse of the night sky and its stars, Ashya faded from the Terian Dimension, and found herself in the Aether.


	9. Chapter 9

   
          When Ashya opened her eyes, she found herself in a circle of trees. Instead of her hands being on the surface of a pond, they were on a glowing stone. She felt hands pulling her away from the area but all she could do was cry as she realized what had happened. Then she felt arms around her and instantly knew Andrius was with her. Ashya did not know how long they had been sitting there when she stood up and looked around. Sariah was staring at the trees while Andrius had his head in his hands. Elizaer was nowhere to be seen. “Umm? What are we wearing?” Sariah asked.  
          Looking down they realized that they were wearing a leather tunic a pants with leather boots at that. On top of that, they had cloaks on their backs. Andrius’ was red, Sariah’s was green, and Ashya’s was midnight blue. Elizaer was wearing the same thing except he also had on silver armor. When he saw the color of Ashya’s cloak he narrowed his eyes. “Seems you are recognized as an elf; otherwise your cloak would be brown.” He stated.  
He shrugged before asking, “Where is Belwen?”  
This caused her to cry even harder, knowing that they would never see their mother again. And that they had never gotten to say goodbye like she had. “She is gone.” Ashya chocked out.  
          She heard Sariah start to cry and she even heard Andrius sniffle. Ashya knew that even though Belwen had lied to them, she still raised them and she never gave up on them. This reminded Ashya of the promise she made Belwen, to protect Sariah and Andrius. All though she did not know why she had to protect them, she would still do it. Ashya dried her tears and looked at where they were at. As far as she could tell, they were in some clearing with a forest surrounding them. This was almost identical to the area where the portal they had used on Earth had been. She jumped as she saw figures come lurking out of the forest. She turned around and cast a glance at Elizaer and how relieved he looked at the sight of them. As they got close enough she realized they were elves. There was about three of them. They walked past the children and towards Elizaer, who looked like he was about to pass out. The elves did something to make him rise off of the ground. When they passed Ashya as they headed towards the forest, Elizaer handed Ashya a small weather beaten journal. “I promised you an answer.” He said as they continued on.  
          Suddenly one of the elves at the back said something to Elizaer. “Sleep, my lord, waste naught your energy.” She said.  
          “Luckshi, keep moving forward, we have a ways to go before we reach Astraphire.” An elf at the front said.  
          “What are they saying?” Andrius whispered to Ashya.  
          She turned to look at him. “You cannot understand them?” She asked.  
          He shook his head and pointed to Ashya’s ears. She frowned. Instead of round ears, she now had a point at the tip of each ear. Guess I really am an elf. She thought, glumly. “Wait, where are they going, they are leaving us!” Sariah squeaked.  
          The elves had already faded into the forest and any form of pursuit would be futile. Ashya sighed and slid down to the ground. “What is in the bags?” Andrius inquired.  
          She groaned and pulled herself up. Andrius was already going through the contents of the bags. He found a green book labeled Sariah, a red book labeled Andrius, a brown book labeled Ashya, a bag of supplies like food, satchels for all of them, a map which only Ashya could read, a sword, a bow and quiver with arrows, and a note for Ashya. After all these things had been handed out, Ashya put on the quiver and strapped the bow onto her back, along with her satchel with the note, journal and book inside. She was about to pull out the map and set off into the clearing, when Andrius stopped her. “We don’t even know where we are going, why don’t you read that note?” He said.  
          She merely nodded before pulling out the note with Ashya on it. She unfolded it to see Belwen’s spidery writing. She smiled as she read. Ashya, if you have need to read this, than I am no longer apart of this life. This means you have to protect them. I know you are a powerful wizard and you are also wise beyond your years, therefore if you are to be separated from Elizaer (Which no doubt you are), I recommend going to Jaedr, the kingdom of knowledge. There I am sure they will help you on what you need to do next. Just as a word of caution, stay away from Allaria and only go to Astraphire when you are ready. Not when Sariah and Andrius are, when you are ready. Remember Ashya, courage is to help someone even when there is to be risk upon your life. Belwen. She felt a lone tear streak down her face. “Well?” Sariah asked.  
          “We must go to Jaedr, the kingdom of knowledge.” Ashya said flatly.  
          She had no clue what Belwen meant when she said only go to Astraphire when she was ready but she could figure that out later, right now she had to get them safely to Jaedr. She pulled out the map and set it down. Andrius and Sariah came and looked at it but they scrunched up there eyebrows trying to piece together the words. Ashya could read it easily, but she knew because of her blood she would always read and say words fluently in Elfish. She traced the path they would have to take to reach Jaedr. “Niuesue Gthin mishial.” She said out loud, only to get very incriminating looks from Andrius and Sariah.  
          Ashya sighed. “It means the path of serenity. It is a safe passage from the portal to Jaedr. There are other paths to the other two kingdoms and beyond those. The one to Allaria is the path of bravery, and the one to Astraphire is the path of wisdom.” She explained.  
          The nodded as if they got it but she knew they did not. They set off towards the path into the mountains as the sun was beginning to set in the sky.  
           
           
          After many hours of traveling, they finally chose a stopping point at a small clearing not far from the path when the moon was high in the sky. Ashya remembered Belwen talking about the stars as being beings of pure good. She could not help but agree with her as she watched them in the sky. Yet, it was the moon that captured her attention mostly. It was so bright and radiant; Ashya could not help but feel as if it was the moon was its own entity as well. “Ashya, what do you think is in the books?” Sariah asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.  
          “I do not know.” Ashya sighed.  
          “Do you think they are journals?”  
          “I do not know!”  
          “…Or maybe they are spell books!”  
          “Sariah I already said I did not know!”  
          Sariah was quiet for a few minutes before answering. “Well why don’t we open them?”  
          “Fine.” Ashya said, exasperated.  
          She watched as the twins opened each of theirs. “I was right! They are spell books!” Sariah exclaimed.  
          Andrius showed Ashya his. It read fire. Ashya started laughing. The twins shot her a look. “I always knew you were a bit of a hothead!” She giggled.  
          Andrius let out an annoyed huff and began muttering under his breath. Sariah’s turned out to be life. “I guess you are an earth wizard.” Sariah pointed towards Ashya’s brown spell book.  
          Ashya shrugged and studied the book. It had a lock over it that would only let her use it. Somehow the excitement of doing spells was drowned out by the disappointment of only being able to do earth spells. Andrius must have noticed her face, because he gave her a small pat on the back before returning his attention to his book. She let out a small sigh before placing her hand on the lock. It burned her instantly. “Ouch!” She cried.  
          She cradled her hand while staring at the thing. The lock was glowing red. Sariah and Andrius hurried over at the site of her. “It did not open for you?” Sariah gasped.  
          Ashya shook her head and turned over her hand to inspect the burn. Only, it was not a burn. It was a shallow cut that was just starting to bleed. She moved her hand away from her clothes so they would not get blood on it. Sariah’s face lit up at the sight of this. She ran and got her spell book. She flipped through it until she found what she was looking for. Probably a spell to heal a shallow cut or wound. Ashya thought. Sariah then began to mutter the spell. “Powers heal the shallow wound and cleanse the area.” She muttered.  
          Sariah stared at the wound in vain. It did not heal at all. She slumped over, clearly exhausted by the spell. Ashya gave her a look of sympathy. “Thank you, Sariah.” She said.  
          “Don’t thank me, it did not work.” Sariah shook her head.  
          Andrius patted her back, apparently trying to comfort his twin. “We should probably get some rest. We still have many miles to travel before we reach Jaedr.” Andrius said.  
          The girls nodded in agreement before finding a spot by the equipment to sleep. Ashya lied there, staring at the stars. She grimaced as the events from the day before playing in her head.  
          Belen said. “Your mother was a very powerful wizard and I am not going to lie to you and tell you that there is no evil in the Aether, because there are great and power-hungry beings there. Anyhow, these beings are after either you or your mother or maybe even both of you.”  
          “I am endangering them by staying with them.” Ashya whispered to herself.  
          This means you have to protect them. The second line from the note popped in her head. Belwen is right. Because she is such a danger to them, she would have to be the one to protect them. She pushed herself up, grimacing as she realized she stupidly had not even tried to cover up her hand. Then again, she had nothing that they could put around her wound. She grabbed her bow and sat upon a rock, an arrow notched into the bow so she was ready in case anything tried to attack them. All that was left was to wait for sunrise.  
   
          “Ashya! Did you even sleep?” Ashya heard Sariah say.  
          She turned around to see Sariah staring at her with her hands on her hips. She smiled at her. “Nope, I was on watch the whole night.” Ashya said.  
          “We should have thought about that. If you had not thought about it, who knows what could have happened to us.” Andrius groaned as he got up.  
          Ashya smirked before turning around. She made a promise and she was not about to break it. “Shall we start on the road again?” Sariah asked.  
          “Yes.” Ashya said.  
          After they ate a small breakfast, they headed back on the path of serenity towards Jaedr. They had been travelling for over an hour when they came upon a wide river with a strong current. The bridge across was a thin rope bridge. “I thought you said this was the path of serenity.” Andrius said.  
          “It is. Which must mean this bridge is stable.” Ashya smiled.  
          She saw Sariah roll her eyes, but continued on anyways. She stepped onto the bridge. It swayed slightly but held her weight. That gave her little comfort, Sariah was five-foot-six, which was the same height as Ashya, but Andrius was six-foot already and he also had a lot of muscle. She finally reached the other side, so she had Sariah follow next. She climbed onto the bridge with her hands clenched tightly on the rope. She soon reached Ashya and got off the bridge. “Alright, come on Andrius.” Ashya shouted across.  
          She tried to give him a confident smile, but he saw through it and gave the bridge an apprehensive look. “Hurry!” Sariah suddenly shouted.  
          Ashya gave her a curious look when Sariah pointed to the deepening shadows behind him. Ashya’s face paled. “Andrius hurry, do not look back!” She called.  
          He obliged, not looking back because he probably already knew what was behind them. He was halfway across when the shadows reached the bank. In the sunlight, there blurred forms solidified into elves. They had eyes of pure darkness. These were the creatures that had killed Belwen. Upon this realization, Ashya began to see red. Andrius finally made it over to the girls. Ashya watched as the things glared daggers at the water and at the kids. They were scared of the water! This realization almost made Ashya want to laugh. Almost. She just wanted the water to attack the evil things. To make them run in fear. She was really focusing on the picture of them being attacked that she thought she was imagining things when the water began to rise up and formed a serpent. She watched in satisfaction and surprise as the serpent crossed onto land and chased the beings to the tree line. It might have chased them further but that was all the kids saw as they began running to put some distance in between the river and them before the serpent turned back into water and the creatures got enough courage to cross the bridge. They kept running, even after the river was long past them. “Ashya, how did you do that?” Andrius asked breathlessly.  
          “Why do you assume I did that?” Ashya frowned.  
          Sariah snorted. “Well it sure did not do it by itself. Andrius and I already know where our powers lie so, it had to have been you. I guess you are a water wizard.”  
          “But she said nothing. She just stared at the….things and at the water.” Andrius pointed out.  
          “You can’t really believe the only way to do a spell would be to say it. You don’t believe that, do you? Stop doubting her and just go along with it!” Sariah hissed.  
          “Stop!” Ashya shouted. “Regardless of who did it, we now have to reach Jaedr, not just for answers, for safety. It is obvious we are being chased. We need to reach Jaedr before night fall.”  
          The twins nodded, glaring at each other. They continued the journey and were able to reach what appeared to be Jaedr before nightfall. Jaedr was guarded by tall stone walls and guards walking above the wall. They had to walk to the entrance where they had to walk through. As they entered the city, they pulled up the hoods on their cloaks and Ashya reread the note. “What do we do now, Ashya?” Andrius whispered to her.  
          While they were standing there, discussing the answer, a guard strolled up to them. “You three must be new to Jaedr, welcome.” He said.  
          Ashya immediately realized he was speaking elfish and responded. “Yes we are thank you.”  
          Sariah tugged on her arm and whispered into her ear. “What are you saying?”  
          The guard raised an eyebrow at hearing Sariah speaking English. “They are not elves.” The guard stated.  
          Ashya grimaced. He had not asked if they were not elves, he knew they were not. “No, they are not.”  
          He merely nodded. “What are your names and what is your business in Jaedr.” He said this in English.  
          Andrius removed his hood and said. “My name is Andrius. My family and I do not yet know what business we have in Jaedr.”  
          The guard’s eyes narrowed when he heard his name. Sariah broke the tension and spoke. “My name is Sariah.” She said, removing her hood.  
          The guard then nodded. “I was right. You are not elves, although, your names are very familiar.”  
          The guard then turned to Ashya. “I have yet to learn your name.” He said.  
          Ashya removed her hood. “My name is Ashya.”  
          The guard took a moment before speaking again. “What is an elf doing traveling with, what are they?” He asked in elfish.  
          “They are Wizards, Drakai, and Benders.” Ashya replied.  
          The guard blinked, clearly not expecting them to be that. “Well, what is an elf doing with people so mixed?” He asked.  
          “Is being apart of different races so wrong? If so then I hope you would be pleased to know I myself am mixed. I am an Elf, Wizard, and Drakai.” Ashya responded with a little bit of steel in her voice.  
          The guard flinched. “I meant no disrespect.” He said apologetically.  
          Ashya said nothing as he continued on. “If I may ask, what type of wizards are you? I am curious because wizards are a very rare sight, even here.”  
          “Andrius is fire, Sariah is life, and I do not know.” Ashya said simply, sighing on the last part.  
          The guards face immediately brightened. “Well we can fix that, follow me.” He said, walking away.  
          Ashya motioned for Sariah and Andrius to follow and they hurried after the guard. He let them to the center of the kingdom, where there was a tall building made out of marble with a point at the top. “Wait here.” The guard said before heading through the open doors.  
          The kids watched as he came back out with another elf wearing purple and gold robes with symbols on them. The elf saw them and called to another elf. This one was female. They had some hushed speaking before she rushed past them and headed for what appeared to be a keep of some sorts. “My name is Jonah; I am the High Magistrate of Jaedr. I am also King Aeini’s advisor. General Mijon has already explained your situation.” His voice lingered over situation.  
          Ashya’s eyes widened. She had been very disrespectful towards the General. Not the best thing to do when new to a kingdom. “He said you were wizards, at first I was skeptical, but now it appears he was right. When I came near you three, an aura of energy greeted me. A lot of energy, not the normal amount you would assume any regular elf possessed, but a large sum of power.” He said, his eyes twinkling at the proposition of power.  
          “Anyways, you did not come here for a lecture. No, you came for answers. Am I correct in this assumption?” He inquired.  
          Ashya hesitantly nodded. “Yes, you are correct, although, hearing someone else’s thoughts on a matter is interesting.” She added, watching with satisfaction as a smile came over his face.  
          “Well than, what are we waiting for?” Jonah smiled as he led them towards the keep, where King Aeini was waiting. 


	10. Chapter 10

                 
                Elizaer woke to find himself in the infirmary at Astraphire. He sat up quickly. How did he get to Astraphire? He groaned as he realized he had various bruises to go along with the deep cut in his side. “My Lord, you are awake!” The High Healer, Gimena, exclaimed.  
          “Yes, Gimena, I am. Pray tell me, where are the children?” Elizaer said.  
          Gimena shifted uncomfortably, not answering his simple question. “What children, my lord?” She inquired.  
          Elizaer’s heart skipped a beat. They were not here. “No, no, no, no.”  He whispered.  
          Suddenly, Belwen’s voice entered his mind. Let them arrive on their own. Ashya will guide them.  
          Elizaer had guessed she did not believe she would make it or that she never planned to be will them. Still, he never would have guessed that Sanﭐn would get the best of her. “Never mind, I was confused about an incident I had come across. I am sorry I have troubled you.” He sighed.  
          Gimena shot him a queer look before returning to her duties. Before she left she called out to him, noticing he had begun to get up. “You are not fully healed yet, you had better not leave.”  
          He started chuckling, only to wince in pain from his wounds. He lay back down to try and figure out what he should do about this new…incursion. First off, he had to find them. Who knows what trouble they could get into out there? For all he knew, they could head into marked land and get imprisoned for it. He shook his head. He wanted to find them before his father was told of their absence. Yet, he knew he had to tell him so they could search for them. Knowing he would go crazy being alone with only his thoughts, he got up and crept out of the infirmary as quickly as he could. After shutting the door quietly, he strode through the halls looking for someone to talk to. To his dismay, nobody showed themselves to him. He spent the better half of an hour walking alone, looking for someone, before giving up and heading to his quarters. He entered the room quietly and found his armor lying on his bed. A note was attached to it. My Lord, when you have awakened and are comfortable with you surroundings again, your father awaits your counsel. Luckshi.  
          Elizaer sighed; he knew his father would not be very patient. He went to his wardrobe and placed his travelling armor away and replaced it with his guard armor. He slid his sword into its sheath before heading to the throne room. When he arrived, he found his father speaking with Gabriel, his advisor. His father took notice of him and motioned for him to approach them. “My son, where are the children?” He inquired.  
          “When the elves awaiting our arrival saw me injured, they focused on only getting me home and completely left the children. So, to answer your question, I have not even an inkling of where they could be.” Elizaer sighed.  
          His father let out a low growl before finding the herald. “Send messengers to Jaedr and Allaria, these children need to be found right away. The names of the people we are looking for are Ashya Whisperwind, Andrius and Sariah Greybreeze.” He snapped.  
          The elf bowed before going to find the others so they could set out as quickly as possible. “We cannot have them getting hurt or into any sort of trouble.” Elizaer’s father said when Elizaer gave him an incriminating look.  
          His father was never rude or cold to anyone, his actions since Elizaer had arrived back in Astraphire surprised him. “What of Belwen?” His father finally asked.  
          Elizaer closed his eyes and said nothing. After many long minutes of silence between them, Elizaer said, “She is gone. She is lost to the stars.”  
          His father lowered his head in sadness. “If you really have forgotten who I am, My Lord, than you would think that.” They heard a cool voice from behind them say.  
          Both men turned around to see Belwen standing there. She bowed and gave them a subtle greeting, to which they both returned. “A phoenix always rises from its ashes.” Elizaer’s father smiled.  
          Belwen let out a short laugh. “Well I would hope so since not only was I named phoenix in my language but I am one. I thought you knew that when I gave you my service, Inaen.” She smirked.  
          “Also, Ashya and my children are in Jaedr. At least, that is where they should be.” Belwen said.  
          “You do not think that should have been what you said first?” Inaen scolded.  
          “No, I gave them time to leave before your messenger gets there.” She said.  
          Elizaer could not help but grin at her cheekiness. He saw is father’s face turn red. “I think that violates our agreement.” He hissed.  
          The smile left Belwen’s face. “It is only a matter of time before you catch Andrius and Sariah, but Ashya…She is a going to be a problem for you. As will I if you do not see my reason for doing this. I have seen something, no I am not going to explain, but it requires her to trust you and herself. So this is what must happen.” Belwen sighed.  
          After saying all that, she turned into a phoenix and flew out the open window in the ceiling. Elizaer shared a glance with his father. “Ashya is just an Earth Wizard is she not?” Inaen asked.  
          Elizaer nodded, somewhat uncertain. “Why do you reply with uncertainty?” Inaen inquired, narrowing his eyes at his son.  
          “When she came through the portal, her cloak was midnight blue. I do not know if that meant she was an elf or something so much more powerful.” Elizaer sighed.  
          “What could be so much more powerful?”  
          “I highly doubt she is what I think she is but I am uncertain…”  
          “Elizaer, stop being so cryptic and answer me!” Inaen demanded.  
          “Father I promise I will, but I need to see the records real quick.” Elizaer said before darting off towards the High Magistrate’s tower.  
          He really had no idea if he was right, Ashya was just too powerful to be a low Earth Wizard, but that is what is said she would be. He was filled with so much uncertainty that he could not even decide which would be worse, the most powerful wizard in the Aether’s daughter being a relatively weak wizard, or the most powerful wizard in the Aether’s daughter being too powerful for anyone to control. He reached the tower to Symona playing with a small air spirit. “My Lord, is there anything I can help you with?” She squeaked, before bursting out laughing as the air spirit tickled her.  
          He would have laughed at the sight if he had not been in a rush. “Yes, where are the books on wizards?” He asked.  
          “You will find them on the third bookcase to the left, fifth shelf up!” She gasped red in the face from laughing.  
          Elizaer dashed over to the area and found the wizard birth records. He found it was locked and brought it over to Symona. She placed her hand over it and unlocked it before going back to playing with her air spirit. Elizaer flipped through the pages and found the one he was looking for. The page showed what the next babies born would be. He ran his finger over Ashya’s name and saw it read Earth. He was about to put it up when something caught his eye. A ruffle was on the Earth part. He turned the page and saw there was no indention there. Someone tampered with the book. He pointed this out to Symona. “Who tampered with my book?” She hissed.  
          She ran her hand over it, muttering a spell. Instantly the offending paper slid up, revealing the real step. It read…undefined. Meaning she could be any of the choices. Symona’s eyes widened. “Oh no.” She whispered.  
          Symona knew about Ashya so she knew this was bad. “What is it?” A voice said.  
          Elizaer saw it was his father and held out the book to him. His father closed the book and gave it back to Elizaer. “May the stars have mercy on us.” He whispered before heading out of the tower.  
          Elizaer was about to follow him when Symona grabbed his arm. “You need to find her, if she is what your father thinks she is, than she is in grave danger.” She said.  
          Elizaer stared into her green eyes and saw fear in them. He nodded before slipping out of her grasp and running after his father. He found his father on a balcony in the great hall, he was watching the sunset. “Father, what is she?”  
          His father turned around and faced him. “Exactly what her mother is. And Alexandria took quite a while to convince that she should trust us.”  
          Inaen turned back towards the sunset. “It was long ago, before you were born. Alexandria was just a child. Yet, she had been through so much already. She had seen her parents murdered in front of her, she had seen her home destroyed, she had to become the older sister of her older siblings, and she had to find a new home. Going through all of that at just sixteen years old made her a cynic. She only trusted her brother and sister. They were staying in the desert in between Allaria and Jaedr. That was when your mother and I found her and Belwen and Aeini.”  
          Elizaer stood there, taking all that in. Ashya is sixteen. His father continued talking, pulling him out of his thoughts. “You would think that everything went smooth from then on for her but no, she resisted or support the whole time. One time we tried to use Aeini and Belwen to convince her to come with us. She was not happy with that. Our soldiers were asleep for many months after that. She tore off the land there and created a cliff to separate them from us. It took many months and a war to convince her.”  
          Elizaer tilted his head. “What war?”  
          Inaen smiled. “A war between the kingdoms of Allaria and Demorae. It was over quickly. All because of her. She went between the two kingdoms and threatened to seriously harm any person who dared attack anyone. She then used her powers to find the leaders of each army. That would be King Fyshir from Allaria, and King Vir from Demorae. She made them face each other in front of her and talk out their problems. Which my guess would have been a very comical sight.”  
          Elizaer smirked. King Fyshir had a very short temper and does not like to be contradicted, which made negotiation with him very hard. Ashini and Lashyir on the other hand, they were complete opposites of him. At least Ashini was, Lashyir had a lot of similarities to his father, which was why when Elizaer heard that Ashya’s father was in Allaria he assumed it was Ashini. “That was when Alexandria met Lashyir, Ashya’s father.” Inaen stated.  
          Elizaer blinked, he was so sure that Ashini was Ashya’s father, considering how calm and fair he was. “I thought Ashini was Ashya’s father.” Elizaer said.  
          “As did I, until Alexandria and Lashyir became engaged that was. Ashini did become her best friend though. He also was the one that convinced her to trust us, which I will always thank him for.”  
          “Now I know I avoided your question for a while, but I needed to explain how powerful Alexandria was. Alexandria is a Wizard of the Moon.”  
          “What does that all have to do with Ashya?”  
          “What aura did you get when around Alexandria?”  
          “One of power… immense power.”  
          “That is fair… now what is the aura you get when around Ashya? Is it even stronger?”  
          “Yes, strangely enough, it is even more powerful…where are you going with this?”  
          “Now given what I told you about the destruction Alexandria had caused because of what she went through, and given that Ashya’s aura is stronger. Ashya’s cloak was midnight blue. That is too many coincidences. Don’t you already know where I am going with this?”  
          “I think I do but please tell me anyways.”  
          “Ashya is a Wizard of the Moon.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	11. Chapter 11

   
          Jonah and Mijon led the children through the doors of the keep to the main corridor where the throne room was. Upon it was King Aeini, with the female elf from before sitting at his feet. “Kristiey has told me all about you three. I have heard about your predicament, Ashya.” He said.  
          Ashya could hear Sariah and Andrius grumbling just low enough for her to hear. The King was speaking elfish. “I am not going to interfere with this process you are about to go through, I just wanted to meet the new wizards.” He continued.  
          Jonah bowed to the king, motioning for Ashya to do as well, before leading her down a dark tunnel. “Your friends will have to stay behind, so they do not interfere with your aura.”  
          “What about your aura? Will it not interfere?” Ashya inquired.  
          She could hear Jonah chuckling faintly. “No, I am older and in more control of my power. Plus I am not a wizard. I am just a mage, so are all the other High Magistrates in the other kingdoms.”  
          He fell silent as they reached their destination, a dark room with six pillars in it. In each of the pillars were things to represent each of the elements. There was a flame to represent fire, a leaf to represent life, a cyclone to represent air; one was filled with water, another had a rock in it for earth, than there was one filled with a sort of light to obviously represent light. “Stand in the middle of the room and start by facing the pillar of earth.” Jonah said.  
          She did as she was told and faced the pillar of earth. “Turn that rock into smaller pieces.” Jonah ordered.  
          She closed her eyes and imagined the rock being blown apart into millions and millions of pieces. When she opened her eyes, the rock was gone, replaced by shattered pieces of rock. “Turn to the pillar of fire and put out the flame.”  
          She did the same thing, only this time she imagined the fire having not enough oxygen to feed upon and so it would slowly die. “How did you do that?” She heard Jonah exclaim.  
          “A wizard is only supposed to control one element!” He said.  
          Ashya shrugged, clearly not knowing what this meant. “Never mind that, face the life pillar. Turn that leaf into a rose.”  
          She obliged and turned it into a rose. This continued on until they came to the pillar with the light. “Face the pillar of st-I mean light.” Jonah ordered.  
          Ashya frowned at his choice of words. Suddenly he walked over to the pillar and pulled out what was making the light. It was a glowing rock. “Hold out your hands.” Jonah whispered.  
 Ashya gazed at it in awe as he placed it in her hands. Hello, Ashya.  
Ashya’s eyes widened as she realized the rock had spoken to her. Do not let him know of my presence. Ashya carefully masked her face to look like ignorance.  
“Now I need you to put out the light.” Jonah said, studying her face.  
What are you and what will getting rid of your light do? Ashya asked the rock.  
There was a sound from the rock, almost as if it was sighing. I am a star, and you will be destroying me is you do that.  
This caused an immediate reaction from Ashya. “No!” She said out loud.  
Jonah grabbed the rock from her and placed it back into the pillar. “It is alright. That was a test. Did you hear her?” He said, trying to calm her down.  
Ashya nodded and sent a glare at the elf. “Why would you have me do that? It would have destroyed her!” She asked.  
Jonah sighed. “If you had not been able to hear her you would have failed the test. No harm would have come to her. But you heard her and she told you what the consequence would be. You passed the test.” He beamed at her.  
“What does that mean?” Ashya asked.  
“I will tell you and the others at the same time. So now we must head back.”  
Jonah and Ashya headed back the way they came and entered the throne room again, where Andrius and General Mijon were talking quietly while Kristiey and Sariah were speaking as well. King Aeini looked up from the book he was reading when they came into view. “Well, Jonah, what were the results for this young elf?”  
“My Lord, She passed the test.” Jonah smiled.  
“What does that mean?” Ashya asked quietly, very unwilling to draw any more attention to how ignorant she was of things.  
“Well we shall see. May I see the spell book you were given?” The King asked.  
Ashya nodded and pulled it out of her bag. She handed the brown book to the King. “Whoever thought you could ever be a Wizard of the Earth is a fool.” He said.  
Ashya’s face became stone cold at this. There was no way Belwen was a fool. “She was not a fool.” She whispered low enough so nobody could hear her.  
Or so she had thought. Jonah and the King heard her. “How was she not a fool? She clearly thought someone with as much power as you could ever be as weak as an Earth Wizard!” The king snapped.  
Ashya flinched, she had not meant for them to hear her. “I did not agree with what she thought but I do not want to remember her like that.” She said.  
The hall fell dead silent. “That is honorable you want to remember this woman like that.” Was all the King said.  
“Well did anything happen when you touch the book?” Jonah said awkwardly.  
Ashya immediately remembered her cut and held up her hand. It was still there, thankfully it had closed though. She held it out to Jonah and he inspected it. “The book recognizes that you are not an Earth Wizard. As I had thought.” He said.  
“Well then that settles it.” The king started. “You, Ashya, are a Wizard of the Moon.”  
Ashya furrowed her eyebrows. The King saw her confused face and smiled. “It means you are one of the most powerful wizards in existence. The last Moon Wizard I saw went missing a long time ago.” He said.  
Ashya immediately knew he was referring to her mother. “Now how about we let you three settle in, I assume you will be staying in Jaedr?” The king said.  
Ashya shook her head. “There are still things we have to uncover before we can be thinking of staying anywhere.” She said.  
The king and Jonah shot her a queer look. “So you will be leaving?” They asked at the same time.  
“I am afraid so.”  
The disappointment in their eyes was unmistakably clear. They had found a very powerful wizard and now they had wanted to keep her. All Ashya was thinking about was Belwen’s words. Take your time. “Well at least stay the night. After all, who knows when you will see another town again?” Jonah asked.  
Ashya looked over at Andrius and Sariah. There was distrust in their eyes but there was also excitement. “Okay.” She said.  
   
Jonah had given them rooms and had taken them to eat but Ashya was not hungry. She had walked out to the small balcony that was overlooking the kingdom. It was beautiful, but what was more beautiful was the night sky, although it reminded her of their situation. She was not sure where they should go next, but they would have to put some distance between then and Jaedr. She was not too keen on the idea of being so near a kingdom that knew what she was and how powerful she was. She did not know what do though. She sighed miserably, silently wishing Elizaer was there. He always knew what to do. No matter if she liked it or not. While she was still going over her thoughts, she did not notice King Aeini walk up behind her. “The night sky is beautiful is it not?” He asked, causing her to jump.  
He let out a low chuckle. “I am sorry I did not mean to scare you.”  
“Yes, it is beautiful.” She replied.  
“So are you sure leaving is what you thing would be the best thing for you three?” He inquired.  
“Yes, we still have many things to discover and the longer we are here, the sooner those things catch up to us. And I do not want to put this place at risk.”  
“What things?”  
“These shadow creatures that when light touches them they become elves with eyes of pure darkness.”  
“Do you mean the Sanﭐn?”  
“That is what they are called?”  
“Yes, how long have they been chasing you?”  
“My whole life, I recently found out they are after me, which puts Andrius and Sariah at risk.”  
“If I may ask, how old are you? You seem younger than your companions, even though you are an elf.”  
Ashya paused before answering. “I am sixteen.”  
Aeini let out a sharp breath. “Well you seem wise beyond your year, which is uncommon, even for an elf. Never mind age, I brought a wrap for the cut on your hand, this will keep it from becoming infected and will dull the pain.”  
He took her hand and placed the cloth on it and secured it before letting go. “Thank you.” Ashya said.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Aeini------  
          Aeini smiled down at Ashya before walking back into the building. She was a Moon Wizard, and she was sixteen. It had been a little over sixteen years ago that his sister, Alexandria had gone missing and she happened to be a Moon Wizard. And her two companions. They were no doubt his half-sisters children. After all they had been born in Jaedr. The question was who was Ashya? “My Lord, the messenger has been sent to Lord Inaen. He should receive the letter within a few hours. Also, I placed the sleeping drought in their supplies as directed.” Jonah reported.  
          “Good, they are really young, they should not be alone. Especially not Ashya.” Aeini said before heading to his quarters.  
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 It was early in the morning when Ashya woke up. The sun was just beginning to rise. She woke Andrius and Sariah. They cleaned the room, and Ashya, feeling bad for leaving the kingdom so soon, left a bag of coins. They headed out of the inn and pulled their hoods up and walked to the gates. They were almost out when they were stopped by a familiar guard. “You are leaving so soon?” Mijon asked.  
Ashya gave him a small smile, while Andrius scowled. “I am afraid so.” She said.  
Mijon laughed at Andrius’ reaction to them speaking elfish. “You must teach them to speak our language; it will be very beneficial to them.”  
 Ashya smiled and nodded. He let them go and they left the gate. He had not seemed entirely sad, which means he knew about the sleeping drought in their food and water. This is why Ashya found extra, just enough to last them awhile. Once they were out of site from even the watchmen, they got rid of the defiled food. “I cannot believe they would try something like that!” Sariah hissed.  
“They did not think we were capable of being on our own.” Ashya sighed.  
“We’ll show them.” Andrius growled.  
“Whatever you two we should probably head away from the kingdom.” Ashya said.  
The twins just nodded and they continued into the wild. It was nearly nightfall when they found a good place to set up camp. It was just a small cave but it would do. Andrius lit a fire, and feeling very proud of himself while Ashya tried to put up a barrier around the cave area. When she felt it come into existence, she went to her spot at the back of the cave and lay down to fall asleep.  
   
It was in the middle of the night when she felt a disturbance touching her barrier. Someone had shot an arrow at the barrier. They had found them. She got up quietly and walked over towards Andrius. “Andrius wake up!” She hissed quietly.  
There was no response. She went over to Sariah and got the same results. Whatever had put them to sleep was not powerful enough to put her to sleep or to take down her barrier. She imagined becoming invisible and looked down to see nothing except air. She really had turned herself invisible! She crept to the mouth of the cave and saw who it was. A familiar female elf wearing armor, it was Luckshi, the one who had told Elizaer to sleep. Ashya scanned over the party of soldiers and found a woman who had an aura that generated power and she knew this woman was a mage. To her surprise, standing next to the woman, was Elizaer, wearing matching armor to the soldiers and Luckshi. She saw the mage start doing some spell. From what she could hear it was some sort of sleep spell. So she had been the one who put Andrius and Sariah into a deep sleep. That was very interesting but it also frightened Ashya. Why were they trying to capture them? Ashya suddenly realized why. Because Ashya was supposed to be this super power wizard that was also supposed to be out of control. Going along with their plans and dropped the barrier to make it look like she had been put under the spell. It worked because when Luckshi shot another arrow at the barrier it went right through and hit the cave. She saw them all breathe a sigh of relief as they came through the barrier and grabbed Andrius and Sariah. She saw Elizaer look around frantically. He knows I am not with them, that I am not really asleep. If he did notice though, he did not show it. They went off into the distance leaving Ashya by herself, all alone.


	12. Chapter 12

   
          When they woke up, they were in a cell, in a dungeon. Ashya was nowhere to be found. “Andrius where are we?” Sariah asked.  
          “You two are here in Astraphire.” They turned to the sound of the voice to see Elizaer walking in.  
          “Elizaer, why are we in here?” Andrius asked, approaching the bars.  
          Elizaer gave them a look of sympathy before saying something to the guards. The guards immediately unlocked the cell door and letting them out. “We had no idea when you would wake up, so this was just to keep you from wandering around the kingdom.” Elizaer said.  
          Sariah shot him a glare. “Where is Ashya?” She asked.  
          He shot her a look that clearly said shut up. He said something in elfish to the guards and they left.  “I have no idea of where she is now. I do know that when we arrived at your campsite she was there. Our high magistrate is weaker than Ashya.” He explained, speaking in a hushed voice so that anyone close could not hear him.  
          Sariah narrowed her eyes at the elf. “If you were after her than why did you not keep searching?” She hissed.  
          “Your mother said that she would stand against us if we forced her to come here.”  
          Andrius glared at Elizaer. “Our mother is dead. How do you know she said this?” He asked.  
          “Well, she isn’t. She is a bender that turns into a phoenix and she can be revived after death.” Elizaer said lamely.  
          At that moment another elf walked in. He was very similar to Elizaer and he had a crown on his head. Sariah’s eyes widened as she realized this must be the king. If so then why did Elizaer look so similar? Sariah watched as Elizaer paled at the sight of the king. Hmm he must have said something he was not supposed to…or…he told us something he had not told the king, Sariah thought. The king looked at us before shooting a glare at Elizaer and snapping something in elfish to him. He must know about Ashya. Sariah was pondering over why they would want Ashya when Andrius nudged her. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Do you think he knows Ashya is not with us?”  
          “Of course I know. No thanks to your mother.” The king said.  
          Sariah mentally flinched at this. He obviously did not like their mother’s threat lightly. “What I want to know, however, is where she is and how did they not catch her?” He continued.  
          Sariah shifted uncomfortably at this. “We have no idea.” Andrius said.  
          Sariah rolled her eyes at how ignorant and incompetent that must make them look. They were obviously not making a good impression here. The king began to talk to Elizaer, not even bothering to whisper. Sariah wondered why until she realized, the king new they could not understand or speak elfish. After a while they turned back to the twins. “My father has agreed to let you two have positions in the kingdom. Sariah, since you are a life wizard, you will be trying for a position in our infirmary. Andrius, you will be trying for a position with our mages in the magistrate tower. You will be going against our high healer and our high magistrate to determine your position. So, if you would follow me.” Elizaer beckoned for them to follow him.  
          The twins shared a look before following the elf. So that is why they look so similar….the King is Elizaer’s father! So that makes Elizaer a prince, hmmm. Sariah’s mind drifted away to nowhere as he led them to a large open space that she assumed was the courtyard. “This is where you will be facing High Magistrate Symona, Andrius.” Elizaer gestured with his hand to the courtyard.  
          He gave them no time to study the area before leading them to another room which Sariah assumed was where she would be facing the Healer. “Sariah, this is where you will have to heal a fatally injured soldier better than our Healer Gimena.”  
          Sariah widened her eyes. She was going to have to save someone’s life? And have to heal this person better than their High Healer, who has probably had to do this trial many times? She was definitely not feeling confident about this. She just learned she could do magic and now they wanted her to go against a master. She looked over at Andrius and assumed he was thinking the same thing because of the distinct upset look on his face. Elizaer noticed their hesitation and smiled. “These trials are based on power. Not experience. Each trial is completely different. That means your opponents will not have done this before.” He said.  
          She knew he was just trying to make them feel better, so it had no real effect on their emotions. He led them back out of the infirmary and to a dark corridor. There were two doors at the end of it. He turned around to face them and gestured to both doors. “These are your rooms; our maidens have placed fresh clothes on them. Change and leave the tarnished clothes on the bed. I’ll take my leave of you so you can get to it.” Elizaer said before leaving out the way he came.  
          As soon as he was gone, an elf appeared and grabbed their arms. She started speaking fast in elfish. Sariah let a small frown form on her face. “I am sorry, but we do not speak elfish.” She said.  
          The elf let out a small giggle. “Forgive me; I said allow me to lead you to your rooms.” She laughed.  
          Sariah followed the elf as she walked them down the corridor. “Miss, your room is on the left and yours, sir, is on the right.” She sang before walking back out of the corridor.  
          Sariah opened the door to her room. That is big! She thought as she studied the room. It was large compared to any room she has ever had. The bed had a midnight blue cover on it which reminded her of Ashya’s cloak. Oh Ashya, where are you?  
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
          Andrius studied the clothes he was supposed to where. It was armor similar to the one the guards wore. Except, his was less lethal looking. He changed into it and placed his old clothes on the bed, as Elizaer had instructed. He walked out of his room to see Sariah leaning against his wall. The female elf was standing next to her. She smiled when she saw him and beckoned for them to follow her. She led them to the courtyard where many elves were waiting. Andrius felt his pulse quicken with each step closer they got. “Miss Sariah, please come with me. Andrius if you would please walk to the courtyard, High Magistrate Symona is waiting.” The elf said before leading Sariah over to where the King and Elizaer were sitting.  
          Sariah looked over her shoulder at him. Good Luck. She mouthed. He gave her a faint smile. Luck had nothing to do with what would come next. He walked into the courtyard to see a female wearing midnight blue armor waiting. That must be High Magistrate Symona. She turned to face him and shot him a smile. Here we go.


	13. Chapter 13

          It was midday when Ashya woke up. She had stayed at the camp site after Andrius and Sariah had been taken. She sat up and stared at the cold and deserted camp site. She stood up to see that their spell books and other equipment had been left behind, so she assumed they would be back. She quickly grabbed her bag and bow before starting to leave. She stopped quickly realizing that they would not know she was okay or even alive if she did not leave something. She stopped as she realized that she still had on the bracelet Andrius had made her. She took it off and placed in it his bag. Ashya then cast a spell over herself to make her invisible. As expected, a party of soldiers arrived at the camp on horses similar to the Friesian horse breed. The group was also equipped with everything from a bow to a sword, so confronting them was out of the question. Ashya slowly backed away but unfortunately she stepped on a twig and it snapped. The soldiers were on the site in seconds, causing Ashya to flee as fast as she could away from the scene. They tried to follow her, but since they could not see her, because of the mirage, they quickly gave up chase and retreated. She stopped only when she arrived at a road. She took off the spell and got onto the road. It was crowded with travelers, not all of them being elves.  Most common of them appeared to be merchants. One familiar face stood out among the crowd that Ashya recognized to be the man who had been talking to Elizaer that one day while they were still in the Terian dimension. She quickly pulled her hood over her face but it was too late, he had seen her. She started weaving into the crowd hoping to lose him among all the people. Ashya looked back and to her surprise, he was not behind her. Turning back around, she found him standing right in front of her. She let out a small gasp and began backing away but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her off of the path. “Ashya, what are you doing here? And why are you by yourself?” He inquired.  
          She broke out of his gasp and shot him a glare. “Staying away from Astraphire! And who are you? You know my name yet I do not know yours.” She hissed.  
          He paused before nodding. “My name is Hashir and you have yet to answer my second question.” He pointed out.  
          She narrowed her eyes at the elf. “Elizaer and what I assume are soldiers from Astraphire took them. Cast some sort of sleeping spell on them.”  
          “How come you were not affected by the spell? And why did you not follow them?” He asked.  
          “Their mother told me to stay away from Astraphire.” Ashya said dryly.  
          “Of course she did. Belwen sure does like to meddle, doesn’t she?”  
          “Please do not take me to Astraphire!” Ashya begged.  
          “I won’t but the other kingdoms will be looking for you now. Say, are you by any chance part Drakeian?” He asked.  
          “Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?”  
          “I know some dragon trackers that are looking for a new member. If you are not ready to go to Astraphire then that is where you should go.” Hashir explained.  
          “How do I find them?”  
          “It just so happens that I ran into them a little bit ago. I will take you to them. Keep your hood up, as we will have to go to Jaedr.”  
          “Thank you, Hashir.” Ashya said.  
          He gave her a smile before pulling her hood over her face. She followed him as he traveled the opposite way of all the other travelers. They walked in silence most of the way to Jaedr. As they approached the gates Hashir stopped her. “Is there any way you can change the color of your cloak?” He whispered. “Before we get into view of the guards?”  
          Ashya nodded and focused on making her cloak black. “Good now let us continue.” Hashir said.  
          She nodded as they approached the gates. She noticed that Hashir had pulled his cloak up as well. They entered through the gates past the watchful eye of General Mijon. He led her to a large inn where they could hear laughter coming from the inside. They walked through the entrance and Hashir took off his hood. “Hashir, my friend, have you reconsidered our offer?” They heard a short man with a long blue beard say.  
          Ashya blinked as she realized that the man was a dwarf. “No, Nordium, but I found someone who you might find more useful than even me.” Hashir laughed.  
          “Better than you? As if any such being could be.” Nordium scoffed.  
          Hashir shot Ashya a sideways look. “Take off your hood, please.” He said.  
          She complied and the dwarf started laughing. “Much less, you bring me a female!” Nordium said.  
          Ashya narrowed her eyes at him and felt her face redden. “He is very rude.” She told Hashir in elfish.  
          Nordium banged his hand on the table. “Don’t be rude and speak in elfish, lass.”  
          Ashya burst out laughing at this. “Says the dwarf being rude!” Ashya said.  
          Nordium let out a laugh. “Witty you are, lady. Very well, what qualities do you possess that make you more useful than Hashir here?” He inquired.  
          “She is a wizard as well as a Drakai. She also has wisdom that dragons appreciate, unlike dwarves.” Hashir spoke.  
          “That is very useful, seeing as we cannot understand them and have to resort to violence. What type of wizard are you?” Nordium interrogated.  
          “I am a Wizard of the Moon.” Ashya said.  
          The inn became very quiet. “Very well, your hired now follow me. You are going to need the type of armor that we need and that will require us to travel to Demorae. Also, the rest of our party is there so it would do well to go there.” Nordium said hastily.  
          They walked out of the inn quickly. “What is wrong?” Ashya asked.  
          “This city is very power hungry; I would not be here if it were not for the fact that we needed someone who speaks the language of the dragons. We need to leave now that they know you are a moon wizard.” Nordium said.  
          They approached the stables where Nordium had his pony stabled. The horse tender saw them and pulled out his grey pony. “Would you like to purchase a horse, miss?” The tender asked.  
          “Yes, please.” Ashya said.  
          He led her to where some horse where stabled. They were all making a ruckus except for a midnight black one with a silky mane. The horse seemed to be watching her with its amber eyes. “Veliou seems to like you.” The elf gestured to the horse.  
          “How much?” She asked.  
          “For you, he is free. It is not often a horse takes a liking to someone.” He said.  
          “Thank you!” She exclaimed as he led the Veliou out to her.  
          Veliou dipped his head to her and she bowed back. This was a very intelligent horse. The horse tender waved her off as she and Nordium led out the gates. The stroked the horse’s silky mane as they walked. “Ashya?” She heard someone say.  
          She turned around to see General Mijon was walking towards her. She realized that she had forgotten to put the illusion on her cloak again. “You need to go! By the stars why did you come back? My King will force you to go to Astraphire if he finds you!” Mijon whispered.  
          She put the illusion over her cloak again but dropped the hood. “Why are you not forcing me back into the city then? You are his general.” Ashya asked.  
          “Why are you traveling with a dwarf?” He asked ignoring the question.  
          Ashya heard Hashir laugh. While Nordium groaned in frustration. “Elves are so rude!” He hissed.  
          Ashya stifled a laugh. “I am going to join his company of dragon trackers. Seeing as I cannot be in any of the three kingdoms.” She sighed.  
          Mijon nodded and waved them off before going back to his post. “We must continue on if we want to be off of the paths by sundown.” Nordium said.  
          “Hashir are you going to be traveling with us to Demorae?” Ashya asked.  
          Hashir shook his head. “No, I will be traveling home to Allaria. But I will travel with you as far as the path towards Demorae. Then I will be taking Vastuily Gthin mishial after we separate.” He said.  
          Ashya nodded sadly. She actually enjoyed his company compared to the dwarf. “So, lass, why do you have that cloth on your hand?” Nordium asked.  
          She looked down at hand, having forgotten about the cut. She took off the cloth to show them the cut. It had closed, thankfully, but it was not any better than when they left Jaedr the first time. “I got this because I tried to open a spell book that is not mine.” She explained.  
          Hashir let out a small hiss before placing his hands over it and muttering a spell. It had the same effect Sariah’s spell had on it, which was no effect at all. He bit his lip and tried another spell. No effect. Ashya saw him getting tired and pulled back her hand. “Do not waste your energy; we still have a distance to walk before we get to the paths.” She said.  
          He made to argue but Nordium spoke up. “The lady is right; we cannot have a warrior being tired if we are attacked.” He said bluntly.  
          Hashir glared at him but complied and got on his horse. Ashya placed her hand on Veliou. May I? She asked.  
          Veliou dipped his head and bent low so she could climb on. Thank you.  
          They began heading towards the crossroad. “Ashya put up your illusion. There are soldiers from Jaedr at the crossroads.” Hashir whispered to her.  
          She complied and they approached the crossroads. The soldiers gave them queer looks, but otherwise ignored them. “This is where we must part; we will meet again in the future Ashya, farewell.” Hashir whispered.  
          “Goodbye, Hashir. Thank you for everything.” Ashya whispered.  
          “Nordium, do not let anything happen to her, or I will tear out your beard myself!” He said to the dwarf.  
          “Of course not, she is family now. And family takes care of one another.” Somehow that seemed like a pointed statement at Hashir.  
          Hashir gave him a glare and spoke in dwarfish to him. Ashya widened her eyes. How many languages did he know? “Farewell, Nordium.” He said bluntly before turning and heading down the path of bravery.  
          Nordium merely grunted before heading down the unnamed path towards Demorae. All the way there they chatted about meager things like what spells she knew and what little training she would need before they could set out towards where rouge dragons were. “So is my armor to look like the one you have adorned now?” Ashya eventually asked.  
          Nordium let out a deep chuckle before replying. “No, this is my traveling armor and it would be weak against dragon teeth and fire. Oh yes, some of the dragons we find are in sour moods.” He said at her surprised look.  
          “And that cloak of yours, well, that will have to be replaced as well. It is too conspicuous and bulky.”  He continued.  
          Ashya frowned, she actually liked the cloak. “But I can put a mirage around it.” She said.  
          Nordium raised one eyebrow at her. “That doesn’t change its natural form.” He said dryly.  
          Ashya was about to argue, but they reached what appeared to be a giant city in the ground. “Demorae.” Nordium sighed.  
          Nordium led her down a small trail leading into the Kingdom. “Unlike the stuck up elves, present company excluded, we have a council, not a king.” Nordium said smugly.  
          “No, I agree, a council sounds like a better form of leadership.” She whispered, still in awe from the kingdom.  
          “Say, what kingdom were you born in?” Nordium asked.  
          “I have no idea; I also was not raised around other elves, so I do not have the same stereotypical attitude towards your kind.”  Ashya remarked.  
          Nordium raised his eyebrows. “Well that is definitely a plus. I am sure my comrades will be a bit skeptical, though.” He replied.  
          “That is to be expected.” Ashya laughed.  
          Nordium led her to a large, black stone building. He got off of his pony and motioned for her to get off of Veliou. And after stabling their mounts, he led her inside the building where, unlike the inn, everyone was quiet. The interior looked like a cross between a library, and a barrack. There was a dwarf with a coal black beard skimming scrolls before tossing them into a pile. “Ah, Kesh, I have found a very useful person to replace the last one!” Nordium’s voice boomed across the hall.  
          Ashya heard other dwarves rushing towards their location. “Nordium’s back? Who is this? Are they useful?” These were just some of the questions Ashya heard. Wait till they find out I am an elf. Ashya smirked. “My comrades, let me introduce Ashya.” Nordium made a dramatic sweep of his hands.  
          The group was of four dwarves. All with a different colored beard. Nordium coughed. “Umm….Ashya, please remove your hood.” He hissed.  
          “Oh forgive me.” Ashya exclaimed before removing her midnight blue hood.  
          All at once the dwarves let out curses of anger. “Nordium, this is the last time we are going to let you fetch a new member! How could you bring an Elf?” The one called Kesh shouted.  
          “Hehe, well you see, she is a wizard, an elf, and a Drakeian descendant. She also is very different from the other elves. I myself have witnessed that.” Nordium explained.  
          The dwarf with the brown beard shifted uncomfortably. “Pray tell me, miss, what type of wizard are ye? I hope ye are not a fire wizard. We have dragons for fire; we do not need a wizard as well.” He asked.  
          Ashya let out a small giggle. “No, but I can understand your concern. I am a Wizard of the Moon. Although my cousin is a fire wizard, he is not with me though.” Ashya added sadly.  
          They all became excited at the Moon wizard part, but they heard the emotion in her voice. “Was he taken from this world?” The one with the blonde beard asked.  
          She shook her head. “No, he was taken to Astraphire along with his sister, by someone I had considered a friend.” She replied with anger.  
          It was true, she was extremely angry with Elizaer for taking her cousins. Yet, he had not come looking for her. “Can’t trust elves can ye? Always stabbing ye in the back. Present company excluded.”  
          “Your right they are.” She muttered.  
          Her thoughts turned to King Aeini and how he tried to tamper with their supplies. She saw them staring at her expectantly. “Well, what are your names, if I may ask?” She inquired.  
          The one with the brown beard said, “Stiil be my name.”  
          The dwarf with the blonde beard said, “Diel.”  
          The one with the black beard said, “Kesh, but I bet you already knew that, no thanks to Nordium.”  
          The one with the white beard said, “Relique.”  
          “And you already know this blue bearded nimrod as Nordium.” Kesh said, pointing at Nordium.  
          Nordium shot him a glare before saying, “We should probably show you to a guest room here and then get you some dragon tracking armor.”  
          The other dwarves nodded and led her up the stone stairs to a small bedroom which she had to duck in. “Sorry it is a tight fit, miss, but it is meant for a dwarf, not a tall elf.” Diel apologized.  
          She turned and smiled at him. “Do not fret, it is just fine.”  
After she had placed her stuff on the bed that was meant for someone half her size, she took off her cloak. After finding the right words, she pieced together a spell that would send her cloak to wherever Sariah is. After it had vanished, she strode out of the room and down to the common room where the dwarves were waiting for her. They noticed her approaching and started exiting the building, looking back every so often to make sure she was there. They led her to a place she assumed was an armory which was made to look like its own fort with its molten lava moat. They crossed the bridge and walked up to a female dwarf with deep age creases in her face. When she saw them her eyes narrowed. “What are you trouble makers up to now?” She rasped.  
“Ma’am, our newest comrade is in dire need of dragon armor. So we came to the original fashioner of the armor.” Kesh bowed.  
“Why me, I made armor for the elves in times of old?” She said, placing one hand on her hip.  
“Ashya please step forward.” Nordium commanded.  
She complied, the dwarf smiled when she saw her. “Bless me; you are a spitting image of Myria, Ashya!” She sang.  
Ashya tilted her head to one side. “If I may ask, who is Myria?”  
“Must have been brought up in Allaria I see. They have a hard time remembering the past. But never mind, young one, we need to get armor for you. Hmm, a helm would not do you justice but maybe a circlet? Of course that will have to match the black steel armor.”  
The woman continued on like this, hammering away at the metal, measuring Ashya, until finally she spoke to Ashya again. “You go on and rest, I will have the finest armor you will ever see ready by dawns first light.”  
With that, the company headed back to their home and went to their respective quarters. Ashya curled up in the tiny bed and let her mind relax. Her thoughts turned towards Elizaer as her mind drifted away into sleep.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

               

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Veliou is a Friesian horse


	14. Chapter 14

   
            The elf maiden led Sariah over to the stone benches that many other elves were sitting on. They sat down and watched as Andrius and High Magistrate Symona bowed to each other before facing the King and the Prince. Prince Elizaer stood up and gave everyone a subtle greeting before saying, “My friends, we have been given good fortune as to have two young wizards join our kingdom. They have both agreed to go through with our trials and will take the oaths of loyalty to our kingdom.” He spoke.  
            Sariah blinked, they had not mentioned anything about oaths of loyalty. Not that it concerned her in the least bit. What concerned her was why he was speaking the common language and not their formal tongue. “Andrius Greybreeze will take part in the first trial against High Magistrate Symona. Andrius is a wizard of the flame. Our next trial will take place in the infirmary as Sariah Greybreeze is a Wizard of Life.” Elizaer gestured to Sariah.  
            Sariah kept her head straight but stared down as she felt eyes turn into her direction. “Now, let the trial commence. Wizard Andrius and Mage Symona, begin.” The king said.  
            The trial was over quickly, as expected since neither of them had been given time to look at their spells. Sariah looked over at the King and saw an expression of extreme disinterest on his face. She felt her face heat up with anger. Some great king. She thought. Everyone started getting up, but Sariah waited for Andrius. When he approached, he froze. “What?” She asked.  
            “Sariah, why do you have Ashya’s cloak?” He whispered.  
            She looked down and indeed, Ashya’s cloak was draped across her lap. She looked up at Andrius with wide eyes. “It was not there before the trial.” She whispered.  
            “Hide it!” He hissed when he saw the King and Elizaer approaching them.  
            She managed to hide it within her own cloak before they saw. “Andrius, since you do not qualify for a spot in the Mage tower, at Dawn’s first light tomorrow, you will be dueling General Luckshi for a spot in the royal guard.” Elizaer said.  
            Andrius dipped his head, respectively. Elizaer turned to Sariah. “We need to travel to the infirmary now, so follow us.” He ordered.  
            She turned to Andrius and wished she could speak to him telepathically. I liked him better when he was Ashya’s friend. She thought. Andrius froze immediately and turned to her, careful not to attract the attention of the royals. “Did I really just hear your voice in my head?” He whispered in her ear.  
            Did it sound something like this?  
            Yes! Wait, how are we speaking?  
            You are so asking the wrong person this question, Andrius.  
            Whatever, it’s actually cool. Now we can speak without them knowing! Ha, payback!  
            Andrius calm down, I am really nervous.  
            Oh, man did you see the Kings face after Mage Symona beat me?   
            Yes, it made me angry and I am afraid I kind of expressed it.  
            You did to angry when I walked to you. By the way do you still have Ashya’s cloak?  
             Yes, it is kind of hard to hold it without looking suspicious. Can you take it when I start my trial?  
            Yeah pass it to me now, we are almost there and they will focus their attention back on us.  
            Sariah complied, and passed it to him from behind. He took it and pushed it down the back of his tunic. Just in time, because they had reached the doors to the infirmary and the royals turned to them. “Sariah, High Healer Gimena is waiting for you inside. The soldier you are to be healing is in there.” Elizaer said.  
            Sariah walked up to the door and placed one hand on it, it opened. She walked inside to where a female elf wearing a long white robe was waiting. I guess this is High Healer Gimena. Sariah thought. The elf started speaking elfish to her, and all though this made Sariah very livid, she kept a passive face on. The elf finished speaking and smiled at her. “Forgive my silence, I do not speak elfish.” Sariah bowed.  
            “Oh, forgive my rudeness. I said let us began, shall we?” Gimena giggled.  
            Sariah gave her a smile and nodded. Gimena beckoned her over to the cotton beds where two fatally injured soldiers were waiting. Sariah placed a hand over her mouth to stop the cry that was about to escape it. “What if I fail?” Sariah asked.  
            Gimena gave her a look of sympathy. “Then I will heal them. Do not fret; they will not lose this battle with the stars.” She smiled.  
            Sariah nodded and Gimena gestured over to the elf that was conscious. “Heal him.” She said.  
            So she did. Remembering how Ashya had been in pain when she tried to heal her cut, she cast a spell to make the soldier drift into deep sleep. She then studied his wounds. There was a long gash in his side that might be causing some internal bleeding. There were bruises running up his spine and neck. He also had a broken leg. His skin was also very warm, indicating he had a fever. Sariah started by piecing a spell together to fix the internal damage done by the gash in his side. After the signs of internal bleeding were gone, Sariah cleaned out the cut before closing it. Of course it did not heal fully and he had a long red line down his side. She then mended the broken bones in his leg before moving on to the bruises on his spine and neck. She cooled his skin focused on removing the sickness from his blood and then she repaired the skin where the bruises were. She fashioned a spell to see if there was anything that she missed. Thankfully, she hadn’t missed anything and took the soldier out of his deep sleep before standing up. She was surprised to see that Healer Gimena was not yet finished. It seemed she had trouble dealing with the soldiers fever. After a little while, though, she got it and stood up. She smiled, until she saw that Sariah was already finished. Even then, her smile faltered only a second before it was replaced. “Well done, both of you.”  The King said, causing Sariah to jump.  
            “Sariah Greybreeze, you are to be Healer Gimena’s apprentice until she deems you are ready, and then you will become Astraphire’s second High Healer.” He said.  
            “Now, however, you need to repeat the oath of loyalty. Follow us to the throne room, where you will recite the oath. Of course you will have help.” The king said before beckoning for them to follow.  
            Congratulations, sis.   
            Thank you, I hope you beat the general tomorrow.  
            Of course, you know I am good with a blade!  
            Don’t get to cocky.  
            I guess you’re right.  
            They entered the throne room where the King was sitting on his throne with Elizaer in the smaller throne next to him. There was another elf by the Kings side. He had dark brown hair and baby blue eyes. He smiled when he saw them. “I am Gabriel, advisor to King Inaen. I will be helping you with the oath of loyalty. You will have to repeat after me.”  
            Sariah smiled at Gabriel and dipped her head. His smile widened and he opened a scroll he was holding. “Let us begin.” He said.  
            “Aai, Sariah Greybreeze.”  
            “Aai, Sariah Greybreeze.”  
            “Tilsyt lilh Nanothrae.”  
            “Tilsyt lilh Nanothrae.”  
            “Saphre Omhyl ca herein fornein.”  
“Saphre Omhyl ca herein fornein.”  
“Sei herein Machalue Bachtily Saphre nie meilakin.”  
“Sei herein Machalue Bachtily Saphre nie meilakin.”  
“Aai laiet, eile herein Astrae, oia Aai Macsi de nano cami.”  
“Sei famae Saphre Rifyl wilyt Bachtily.”  
“Treay gtup vdy baedy.”  
“Saphre treay Ithil wilyt.”  
“Aai jhdo gs herein Sifhy sei Khian naeshy Zafasae.”  
“Zavy Aai Rokeim nie.”  
“Saphre dure treay herein Astrae imlad.”  
“Aai Sgvl wilyt Ithil.”  
As Sariah repeated the last line, an aura of pure light surrounded her before fading away. Gabriel motioned for her to rise. “Welcome to Astraphire, Apprentice Sariah.” King Inaen said.  
Gabriel led the twins out of the throne room and further into the castle. “We are going to head to the Library to begin your first lesson of elfish.” He said.  
Sariah groaned inwardly at how embarrassed they were about to be.  
And this is where we become the laughing stalk of the kingdom.  
Sariah smiled, Andrius was thinking the same thing she was.  
Yes, unfortunately.   
At least you have power to back you up. I am a mediocre representation of a wizard.  
Not necessarily.  
What do you mean by that?  
Never mind it doesn’t matter.   
Yes it does.  
Sariah backed out of the conversation. If he couldn’t see that now that she is the High Healers apprentice she has a greater responsibility and reputation to keep up, then that was his fault. Gabriel turned around just as they reached the library. “Before we begin, you both must know that any language you are not born with will be very difficult to learn. Not just elfish.” He said softly.  
“That doesn’t change the fact that we will be embarrassed.” Sariah said.  
Gabriel burst out laughing at her comment. “I guess not, oh well.” He laughed. “Shall we?”  
Andrius nodded and Gabriel opened the doors. Both the twins followed him in to the large room filled with books. Gabriel led them to a small table in a small nook of the library. “Wait here.” He said.  
They waited for several minutes until Gabriel came walking back, his arms filled with books. “Do you need help with that?” Sariah and Andrius asked at the same time.  
“Fliel!” He hissed.  
No! Sariah folded her arms and watched with satisfaction as he had trouble getting over to the small table. He set them down, muttering what sounded like curses under his breath. He saw their expressions and put a hand behind his head, his face turning red. “Excuse my rudeness, please.” He begged.  
Sariah unfolded her arms, but did not drop her expression. He avoided her gaze carefully as he opened the first book. “Sit, we need to begin with your first lesson.” He ordered.  
Andrius let out a low groan as they all sat down and Gabriel began with their first few words in elfish.  
   
It seemed many, many hours later when Sariah and Andrius were getting frustrated with Gabriel’s teaching manner. He wasn’t a bad teacher. He just, was way too nice and pleasant. Still, Sariah was happy that there was at least one nice person in this kingdom, excluding the maid who vanished. Gabriel eventually closed the last book and began to put them away. This time, Sariah helped him. “Why did you take the time to teach us?” Sariah asked quietly.  
“Because you two needed it and because it is my responsibility.” He said.  
“Well, thank you.”  
She finished putting up the last book and walked back to Andrius to see him with his head in his hands. What is wrong with you?  
I suck at everything.  
No, you are awesome at fighting.  
But………… nothing else.  
You are good at cooking.  
Ha-ha, call me a chef.  
No, I think I will call you General Andrius.  
General Greybreeze.  
Whatever. Andri-  
“It is late; we should be retiring to our quarters now. I will escort you back.” Gabriel said, interrupting their conversation.  
Sariah was about to say something sassy, but she remembered that he could not hear their conversation. “Okay.” Andrius said.  
Sariah frowned as Gabriel raised his eyebrow at Andrius. She suddenly remembered that he had told them to answer in elfish for the rest of the night. “Oia nie fliel Baedy.” She responded.  
That is not necessary. Gabriel flashed a smile before answering. “Ufy de fliel eth ke Quistafein.” He smiled.  
You do not have a choice. Oh I don’t? She thought. “Aai de fliel?” She asked.  
I do not? Gabriel smiled at her and shook his head before beckoning them to follow him, as he walked he looked back to keep an eye on them.  
He is very….friendly.  
Sariah frowned, Andrius found his behavior suspicious? At least he is friendly.  
He is never impatient with us and he is never angry with us, excluding earlier.   
Maybe he is trying to be genuinely nice, unlike some people.  
You hate the king too I see.  
No, but I am not fond of him.  
Whatever, say what you mean.  
I meant Elizaer.   
Oh, that traitor.  
He never was a traitor; he did what his kingdom wanted him to do.  
Stop sticking up for these elves.   
Forgetting that Gabriel was directly in front of them, Sariah turned and shot Andrius a glare. “Is something wrong?” Gabriel asked, noticing her movement.  
She snapped her head back to its original position. “Fliel.” She said.  
He narrowed his eyes at her but kept walking. They soon reached the hallway leading towards Sariah’s and Andrius’ rooms. “This is where I will take my leave of you.” Gabriel said as he stopped walking.  
“Thank you, Gabriel.” Andrius said.  
Gabriel accepted that as they had not learned how to say that. She and Andrius began walking away when Sariah suddenly remembered something. She had come across a word that was very useful in this situation. She turned back around to face Gabriel. “Phosaeninith, Gabriel.” She called.  
Goodnight, Gabriel. She smiled at the surprise on his face, as he had not expected her to know that phrase. He smiled back at her after a moment and she quickly walked to catch up to Andrius. Knowing she could not hear him, Gabriel said, “Phosaeninith, Sariah.”  
Goodnight, Sariah.  
   
   
   
 


	15. Chapter 15

          Ashya stood staring at the sunrise through the small window in her room. It was the most beautiful thing she had seen in a long time. There was something about it that was just different from anything she ever saw. “Oh, you are already up!” Someone said.  
          Ashya turned around to see Diel leaning on the doorframe. An overwhelming sense of sadness rushed over her as she remembered how Andrius used to do that. “Yes.” She said.  
          “Well come on, you have armor to be fitted.”  
          She let out a soft laugh. “Of course, I am coming.”  
          He left shaking his head and Ashya stared at the door in sadness. What is she doing here? She should be back with Sariah and Andrius! She shook off the thought and remembered how Belwen had told her to go to Astraphire when she was ready. She walked down the stone stairs to see the dwarves shaking hands and placing bets on something. “What are you guys doing?” She smiled.  
          “Just betting on how many dragons you are going to kill.” Nordium laughed.  
          Ashya’s eyes widened and she backed up. “Why do I have to kill any?”  
          All the dwarves gave her a look of disdain, only Kesh had sympathy in his eyes. “Sometimes they just don’t listen, Ashya, it’s the only way.”  
          She felt sick at the idea of even harming a dragon. “How many have each of you killed?” She asked, not really wanting to know the answer.  
          Kesh shook his head but Nordium answered, “I have killed 9, Kesh over here has killed 5, Diel has killed 11, and Relique has killed 7.”  
          She closed her eyes and sank to her knees. “Is she going to be okay?” Relique asked.  
          “Yes, I am fine.” Ashya said, rising back up.  
          “What is the agenda for today?” She asked Kesh.  
          “Well, miss, we are getting your armor today and we are setting off for the volcanic mountains tonight.” Kesh replied.  
          “Volcanic Mountains?” She asked.  
          “Aye, an adult dragon of an unknown species has been terrorizing our miners. He has not killed anyone nor has he maimed anyone but he is disrupting their work and feasting on the pack mules. We just need you, Ashya, to ask him to leave.” Diel said.  
          “Ok that is enough chit-chatting, we have work to do. Nordium, Diel, take Ashya to the armory and then get back and get out and polish all of our armor and weapons. Relique and I will be getting the supplies and equipment.” Kesh said.  
          On the way to the armory, Nordium kept trying to reassure Diel that Ashya would be fine talking to the dragon herself. I hope he is right. Ashya said. When they got to the armory, the old dwarven woman was there, waiting. “Welcome back, young one. I have your armor ready. I also had my tailor friend sew you the undergarments for the armor. Go to the room behind the wall and try it on miss. And yes, the undergarments are back there as well.” She said.  
          “Thank you, ma’am.” Ashya said.  
          The old woman smiled at her and Ashya walked to the room she was talking about. Sure enough, there was the armor sitting right there. Ashya ran her hand over the metal, amazed at how, in the light of the torch, it looked like obsidian yet it had a red undertone to it. She found the undergarments and put them on. They were a perfect fit, except the top ended mid stomach. She was puzzled until she put the armor on. It ended mid stomach as well. The armor was also very light for something that was this strong. There was a mirror covering up one entire wall and she studied herself in it. She thought of how she used to study the way she looked in her outfits back in the Terian Dimension. She had never looked this dangerous. She quickly changed back to her regular garments and walked out of the room. Nordium and Diel were sitting on some bench talking. “Did they fit, Ashya?” The lady asked.  
          “Yes they do, thank you.” Ashya smiled.  
          “Good, let me get a case for them to go in. You stay here.” She said before leaving.  
          The woman grabbed a box and headed into the room. When she came out again, she gave the box to Ashya and shoed them off. When they arrived back at headquarters, Ashya set hers off to the side and helped Nordium and Diel clean all the armor. They were only half way through when Kesh and Relique arrived with all their supplies. “Ashya, do you have weapons?” Kesh asked.  
          Ashya nodded. “Okay, bring them down and also bring your other belongings down.”  
          She grabbed her small pile of things and went back to the common room. She showed them her bow and her arrows. “Your quiver is imbued. Your arrows will never fall out.” Relique commented.  
          That was when Diel picked up the journal Elizaer had given her. He opened it and quickly shut it. “What is wrong?” Ashya asked.  
          Diel ignored her question and placed the journal on the table and opened from a safe distance with his sword. Instantly, two white and blue swords appeared. The word Elizaer was engraved on them. Ashya pulled them out and stared at them. She handed them to a curious Diel and read the English on the paper.  
          Ashya,   
          I cannot change what is happening at this point as I am probably separated from you if you have to read this. I can give you something as an apology, though. I have a set engraved with your name on it as well. I also gave you this journal to understand why I did what I had to do.  
          Elizaer.  
          “Who is Elizaer?” Diel asked.  
          “Someone who was once my best friend.” She said softly.  
          “Oh.” He said before giving her the swords back.  
          “Well those are fine weapons, so I hope ye are keeping them?” Relique said.  
          Ashya let out a small laugh. They actually thought she hated him just because he hurt her? She ran her hand over them and felt the swords vibrate under her touch. So Elizaer has a pair with my name on them. Maybe he did not intend to hurt me. Ashya was pulled out of her thoughts when Kesh began giving speaking again. “Ashya, where is your spell book?”  
          She stood up and pulled out from the corner of her satchel before showing them. Diel made to touch the lock but she slapped his hand. “Do not try and open a spell book that belongs to another wizard!” She hissed.  
          They all gave her queer looks until she showed them the cut on her hand, which was gradually healing. “It will hurt you in a way that only nature would be able to heal it.” Ashya explained.  
          That was when they all turned on Diel. As they were bickering over Diel’s ignorance, Ashya began reading the journal Elizaer had left her.  
   
          September 13  
          We have received word that Alexandria had her child. The child turned out to be a little girl, which Alexandria named Ashya. When Ashya was brought to the throne room to be introduced to us a few weeks later…her aura instantly caught our attention. It was beyond powerful, yet we stayed silent. She has silver eyes, unlike her mother’s brown eyes. It was at this time that Pain, the prince of darkness, appeared next to Ashya. Thankfully, he was only an apparition, but he still tried to take Ashya. She did the bravest thing, yet scariest thing…..when his hand formed fully, she bit it. He growled at her and she just laughed. Alexandria grabbed Ashya and thrust her into my arms, which startled me, and began a spell to banish him from this palace. When he was gone, Alexandria sank to the ground and wept, which made Ashya start crying. My father told me to take Ashya out of the throne room. I was on the balcony overlooking the kingdom while holding Ashya, who was playing with my hair. I sang to her while we waited for word from my father.   
          “Ashya you should go clean up before we leave.” Nordium said, pulling her attention away from the writing.  
          “Your right I probably look like I stood outside in a storm.” Ashya agreed.  
          “No, you are okay but I am sure you will want to wash before we head to the mountains.” He said.  
          “Not only that but I think you will want to change in privacy and not where we are changing.” Diel said.  
          Ashya felt her face heat up and quickly nodded. They pointed her in the direction of the bathes and she took the box with her armor and weapons. When she got there, the bath was already drawn and, to her relief, no one else was there. After she was cleansed she dried her hair and put on the undergarments for her armor before putting it on. She then put her armor on before topping it off with the circlet. She saw that sheathes had been put on the sides of her armor for her swords and she slid them in. Lastly, she slung her bow around her back along with the quiver before heading back to the common room. She saw that they had finished changing and were sharpening their weapons. They heard her footsteps and looked up at her. “Definitely an improvement, Ashya, you look battle ready now.” Kesh smiled.  
          Ashya shifted uncomfortably as she felt all their eyes on her. “We had best be off now, or we will not reach the volcanic mountains before dawn.” Diel said, saving her.  
          Retrieving her spell book and satchel, Ashya headed outside with the dwarves. She stared at the sky as they began their journey towards the mountains.  
   
          It was still dark outside when Diel informed them they were at the first site for the mines. Ashya studied the area, it was blistering hot and the area was pockmarked with depressions. She could not imagine anyone wanting to live, let alone work, here. It was at this point that a dwarf with a grey beard came running out of a small cabin. “High Arch Nordium, Thank the stars you are here! And who be this?” The dwarf exclaimed, gesturing to Ashya.  
          Ashya bowed slightly to him. “I am Ashya, a wizard and elf.” She said.  
          “Can you speak Ghali?” The dwarf asked.  
          Ashya blinked at him. Nordium rolled his eyes and said, “Yes, she can, she is Drakeian. She can speak it naturally.”  
          “That is the name of the language?” Ashya asked, awed.  
          Diel nodded before speaking rapidly in dwarfish to the older dwarf. “This is bad; the dragon is getting more and more aggressive. Earlier this week, he torched the mine cart tracks.” Diel groaned.  
          “Guess this is going to be another kill, who wants it?” Kesh sighed.  
          “Wait, let me try and talk to him, please.” Ashya begged.  
          “Sorry, Ashya, you are too valuable.” Diel said.  
          Ashya narrowed her eyes at them. “I am going anyways, I am a wizard. I’ll handle it.” She hissed.  
          She then turned towards the grey bearded dwarf. “Where is he?” She inquired.  
          The dwarf shook his head but pointed into a nook in the mountains, which was dripping with lava. “Of course.” Ashya muttered before stalking off in this direction.  
          She first created a spell to move the lava away, when she realized it was a lake of lava. She let out a low growl but had it flow back the way it came, which was back up the mountain. That was when she saw him. He is so beautiful. She thought, watching as he slept in the spot where the lava was. Wait……he sleeps in lava? Suddenly he got up with his tail lashing. He had black and obsidian colored scales with amber eyes. He stalked over to her, his stomach lighting up with fire. That’s when she realized he saw her as a threat. She took off her weapons and her cloak and set them on the ground. She saw him stop in his tracks. Ashya nearly burst out laughing at the emotion in his eyes. It was utter disbelief. He then began creeping closer to her with his head low to the ground. She stood absolutely still as he circled her. That is when he spoke, “Who are you? And why are you not trying to kill me?”  
          His voice was so deep! She picked up on the language he was speaking and responded. “I am Ashya, a wizard and an elf. And I do not believe in killing dragons.” She said.  
          That was when his wings closed back in on his sides. “Why do you wear the garter of a dragon tracker then? And I am curious, what kind of wizard are you?”  
          Ashya smiled. “I joined them so I do not have to go to Astraphire that does not mean I share all their beliefs, though. And I am a Wizard of the Moon. May I ask your name and what type of dragon you are?”  
          He rolled his eyes. “You must be an Allarian elf then, if you do not know what breed I am. My name is Joka, and I am a black volcano dragon.”  
          “That is the second time I have been called Allarian, but I was not raised there, no, I was raised in the Terian dimension. And I think your name is wonderful.”  
          Joka seemed to ponder this for a moment before padding over to her. “Well then, let us go greet your friends.” He said.  
          Ashya bowed before beginning to walk over to the dwarves again. “Nordium, Kesh, Diel, Relique, I would love to introduce you to Joka.” She said bowing while gesturing to Joka.  
          The expression on their faces was hysterical. “Ashya, you are truly crazy. He is a dragon! He is dangerous!” Diel hissed.  
          Joka suddenly lost it. “I am not, dwarf! You do not speak my language you are so rude and inconsiderate!” He cried.  
          Ashya set one hand on Joka and he calmed down. “Diel, he is not dangerous nor am I crazy, so say sorry to him!” She hissed.  
          Diel placed his hands on his hips. “Fine, I am sorry! But tell me this, dragon, why are you terrorizing our miners?”  
          “Hold on, Joka I have an idea.” Ashya spoke to him in Ghali.  
          She placed her hands on his neck and muttered a spell so he could speak English as well. “There, that should enable you to speak the same language.” She said.  
          Joka dipped his head to her before speaking. “My name is Joka, not dragon. And your miners came to MY home. You are terrorizing me!” He growled.  
          Nordium stepped forward first, “We looked the area up and down before we actually started our mining, and you were nowhere!” He said carefully.  
          Joka crouched low to the ground to stare into the dwarf’s eyes before hissing, “I am a black volcanic mountain dragon. I sleep in lava.”  
          Nordium looked back at his companions before placing his hands on his hips. “Well, Joka, can we share these mountains? Our miners will stop attacking you if you stop terrorizing them.”  
          Joka glared back at him, “If you think I would accept such a deal for my territory, you are wrong.”  
          Joka’s eyes began to glow amber and the dwarves took out their weapons. Ashya rushed forward and cast a sleep spell on the dwarves before turning to Joka. “Joka stop, please. If you don’t they will kill you.”  
          Joka turned his head from her. “This is MY home, not theirs.” He cried.  
          “That is why you should accept this deal. They won’t be mining through all of these mountains; you still have plenty of lava pools you can sleep in.”  
          “Okay, but place that lava pool that you took from me back.” He whined.  
          Ashya smiled, relieved, “Of course, Joka.”  
          Joka followed her back to place where she found him, where she quickly replaced the lava. “Tell your dwarf friends that I have accepted the deal.” He said as he waded into the lava.  
          “I will goodbye Joka.” Ashya smiled.  
          “Ashya, wait!” He called.  
          She turned around to see only his head sticking out of the lava. “Thank you.” He said.  
          She laughed as he attempted a smile. “Your welcome, Joka.”  
Ashya walked back to the sleeping dwarves and waited for them to awaken. Nordium was the first to awaken and walk over to her. He looked around, confused, before asking her, “Where is Joka?”  
Ashya glared at him. “Sleeping in his lava pool, he accepted the deal.” She sighed.  
Nordium nodded and watched as his companions woke and looked around. “Well we completed what we came for, time to head for home.” He said.  
Ashya nodded, and they grabbed all their supplies and headed for the path out of the mountains. Diel and Relique began singing a song in dwarfish as they got out of the mountains. Ashya laughed at how of-key they sang. The mountains were only a small image on the horizon when they heard a roar. The dwarves quickly pulled out their weapons as did Ashya. The blades Elizaer gave her seemed to glow with anticipation. A dragons shadow flew over them and they all looked up to see a red dragon about to breathe fire upon them. They took cover behind some of the boulders off the path. Ashya felt the fire’s heat on the rock and when it ceased, she tried a spell to make it fall asleep. For some reason, the dragon was unaffected by her spell. Although, it did know she was trying to cast some spell on it. It grabbed her from behind the rock and began flying upward. Ashya winced as the dragon’s claws scratched her arms. “I’ve always wondered if a wizard could survive a fall this high.” She sneered.  
That does not sound promising, Ashya thought. Ashya then realized she was staring at the dragon’s neck and that she had an opportunity to kill the dragon. The thought sickened her, but it was most likely her only chance of getting rid of the dragon. “I wonder how easy it would be to kill a dragon.” Ashya said, taunting the fiery drake.  
The dragon turned her head towards her and blowing smoke out her nostrils, the dragon said, “Not as easy as a fleshy wizard.”  
Finally, her hands pulled out the swords and laughed at the dragon, “well this one is an exception.”  
Then, looking the dragon straight in the eye, she drew the swords across the dragons exposed throat and hot dragon blood immediately splattered across Ashya. The dragon’s grip on her left and Ashya found herself falling back to the ground. She tried to think of a spell that could slow her fall or do anything to make sure she survived, but she couldn’t. And then she realized that she was not going to survive this, there was absolutely no chance. Ashya let this realization sink in before closing her eyes and letting her mind go someplace deeper.


	16. Chapter 16

   
          A blue falcon flew into the throne room as Belwen flew down and landed next to the king, who was standing on the balcony overlooking the kingdom while wearing a worried expression. “Inaen, what is on your mind?” She inquired.  
          He kept his eyes on the torch lights of the kingdom. “Why would you agree to bring Sariah and Andrius, but not Ashya?” Inaen asked.  
          “Ashya is a wizard.”  
          “So are your children, there has to be a better reason.”  
          “Ashya is more powerful and younger. You know what can become of a mix of those two.”  
          “Yet you think she is old enough to be tracking dragons?” Inaen spat, turning towards her.  
          Belwen met his gaze with indifferent eyes. “You think she is ready to face Pain and Agony? She is too vulnerable as long as she is new to the Aether.”  
          “That is all the more reason to keep her safe here.”  
          “Belwen let her hard gaze drop, softening to sadness. “The moment she steps into this castle, the princes of darkness will know she is here. And they will come for her, just as they did when she was a baby.”  
          “Fine, I see your point. If a battle is to happen by her coming here, then our healers and warriors need to be prepared.”  
          Belwen felt her eyes turn their natural shade of orange before cracking a smile. “Speaking of preparation, I need them to come with me to the Forest.”  
          He shot her an exasperated look before saying, “Fine, I know better than to try and argue with you, Belwen Greybreeze, but you must take Gabriel as he can teach them while on your journey.”  
          “Only you elves would force another race to learn your language rather than adapting.” Belwen said, shaking her head.  
          He waved off her comment and said, “Go, but hurry, we haven’t the faintest clue when Ashya will return to her home.”  
          “Not for many lunar phases, maybe not even for a cycle.”  
          She walked away to the throne room before he could respond. She saw Gabriel sifting through a pile of scrolls and approached him. “Gabriel.”  
          He looked up at her. “Hmm?  
          “Do you still want to travel to the Forest?” She asked.  
          “Yes, why?”  
          “Because your king has ordered you to accompany me as I take Sariah and Andrius there.”  
          “Okay, but why to the Forest?”  
          “Really, the king’s advisor has to ask why?”  
          Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows as he processed her words. Eventually his face relaxed and he went back to his pile of scrolls. “Spirit Animals.” He sighed.  
          “Yes, Spirit Animals.”  
          “The tribes will never accept them. Not with how they will be of service here.”  
          “I know, but as they are Shifters, they will need them.”  
          “Also, who will be teaching them your politics?” Belwen continued.  
          Gabriel looked out one of the windows in the throne room. “No, that is my task.”

          Belwen burst out laughing at his defeated tone. Some advisor. “Be careful, Gabriel, lest you become a teacher.” She laughed.  
           
          Gabriel sighed as he walked down the dark corridor leading towards Sariah and Andrius’ chambers. Belwen had a valid point; the King was giving him tasks befitting a teacher. Not he had any place saying so. He stepped in front of Andrius’ door and knocked before repeating the process with Sariah’s door. They both came out quickly, which let Gabriel know they hadn’t been asleep. He gave them each a smile that they hesitantly returned before he led them down the corridor and to the throne room. There Andrius made his oath of loyalty for his position as Captain of the Guard. After they were finished, he led them back to their chambers where they would have to get ready for their first day of training. “After that, you will have to leave for your journey.” Gabriel finished.  
          Then they asked at the same time, “What journey?”  
          Gabriel opened his mouth to respond, when Belwen stepped out of the shadows and said, “Normally, I would let Gabriel continue teaching you, but he is needed elsewhere. So I will explain to you the journey we will be taking.”  
          Gabriel gave her a grateful nod before heading down out of the corridor. As soon as it was out of his sight, he shifted into his blue falcon form and flew up to the balcony above the throne room, where the King was waiting. “I am sorry you keep getting these tasks. Our limitations are seemingly endless these days.”  
          Gabriel shifted back into his usual form and followed the King up towards the High Magistrate’s tower. “I need you to pass on your duties onto Symona for the duration of your absence.” The King Said.  
          “Of course.” Gabriel said.  
          Gabriel opened the dark, bracken door to where the King’s sister, Symona, was organizing the books seemingly by subject. She glanced up at them and smiled, “What brings the King and his advisor up to my tower?”  
          “Unfortunately, to pass along more responsibilities to you for the time they are gone.” The King said.  
          Symona laughed and turned towards Gabriel. “Fortunately, Belwen visited me first. I will get the book.” She said.  
          The King raised an eyebrow and Gabriel merely shrugged. “Do you need a brief lesson in politics?” The king inquired.  
          Symona came back with a dark red book Gabriel assumed contained the Transfer spell. “Please, brother, I was raised around you. I know enough politics to serve you.” She scoffed.  
          The king let out a huff but didn’t pursue the topic. Symona handed him the book and pulled back the sleeve covering her forearm. Beneath it was the imbued tattoo of the rune of the High Magistrate. She motioned for Gabriel to do the same and he pulled back his sleeve to reveal his tattoo of the King’s Advisor. “Okay, brother, you will have to complete the spell.” Symona said.  
          The king placed two fingers on each of their tattoos and began saying the spell. As Gabriel’s rune disappeared and placed itself on Symona, causing her to flinch, the King took his hands off them and closed the book. Gabriel examined the faint blue outline on his arm, showing he was temporarily removed of his duties. Symona showed them her forearm which now, in addition to her rune, contained Gabriel’s rune. The disappointment of having his rune on someone else was almost enough to make him regret going to the Forest. Almost. The king nodded and turned towards Gabriel, “Now I believe you should take your leave to prepare.”  
          Gabriel nodded and bowed before leaving the tower into the crisp night.


	17. Chapter 17

   
          Andrius was placing the armor Belwen said he would need in a small traveling bag when there was a knock at his door. Upon opening it, he saw a dark skinned woman who, because of her armor, he assumed was Captain Luckshi. “Greetings, Andrius Greybreeze, my name is Luckshi.  I am the Captain of the guard until you are ready. I will be training you.” She smiled at him.  
          He was unsure of what to say so he just smiled back. She beckoned for him to follow her out into the corridor. “I see you are hesitant with speech but do not worry, Gabriel will teach you.” Luckshi said as they walked into the courtyard.  
          She then led him up a pair of stairs that went onto the patrol walls of the kingdom. “My job is to prepare you, to make you aware of every individual piece of the kingdom, so that when there is need to, you can protect these walls from whatever we are given.” She said.  
          They stopped on a small part that overlooked the kingdom. “Astraphire may not be the largest city, but we are the ruling kingdom. This means we have more enemies than the other two kingdoms combined. Now let us travel to the streets.”  
          He followed her as she went down another pair of steps into the city area of the kingdom. They walked past a very decorative building, which looked vaguely like a coliseum, and a temple shaped building that had runes all over it. Luckshi noticed his attention, gestured to the first building and said, “That is the archives.”  
          Then she gestured towards the angled building and said, “That is the kingdoms temple. It is where we listen to the stars and carry out their bidding.”  
          Andrius vaguely remembered Ashya mention the stars, but why, he was not sure. “The stars?” Andrius asked.  
          “Yes, the stars are the spirits of every fallen being in the Aether.”  
          “Every fallen being?”  
          “As long as they were filled with light.”  
          After passing the temple, Andrius saw even taller buildings that resembled spires, except way taller. These buildings went on farther than either one of them could see. “These are where much of the kingdom’s citizens live.”  
          “That’s a long way up.” Andrius observed.  
          “And a long way down, but enchantments protect anyone from falling off or getting tired.”  
          “That’s smart.”  
          “That’s safe, now come along; let us see the fields before we head to the best parts of the city.”  
          They left the street and walked on to a path that led away from the city, and after a few minutes of walking, they saw fields where elves were working on harvesting crops. Some elves were leading sheep’s back towards a grazing field. At least they looked like sheep’s. Some of them were larger than usual and some were different colors. Some of the elves were singing as they worked, making a melody of unison flow into the wind. “It’s so peaceful.”  
          “As is the time we live in.” Luckshi smiled.  
          Many of the elves waved to them as they passed, to which they waved back briefly before Luckshi quickened her pace and Andrius had to jog to catch up with her. He finally caught up with her when she stopped on the path that led back towards the city. “Now something I find truly marvelous: the kingdoms school.”  
          Andrius frowned but quickly matched her pace. As they got to the school, he understood why the school would be considered a wonder: It was floating over a lake. The school was silver and blue with accents of white, and had towers and platforms that were unconnected spinning around it. In the center was a large, bright white, pyramid-shaped building. “Our different subjects are Swordsmanship, Magery, Politics, Culinary Arts, Navigation, and other Scholarly Studies.” Luckshi said.  
          Suddenly, one of the platforms lowered letting young children off into the central area. “Come on, Greybreeze, let us go meet with them!” She said in a breezy tone.  
          Andrius stayed back slightly as the children surrounded Luckshi speaking in elvish. She spoke to them with gentleness in her voice he didn’t know she had. He assumed she told them she was training him as they pointed at his ears and made faces of disappointment. Luckshi scolded them but it already had taken its toll on Andrius and made him realize that if children were this adverse to a non-elf being Captain of the Guard, then the adults would be even more so. That was when a small, tan boy came running up to him. “I am not an elf either.” The boy told Andrius, “Neither is my sister, our parents are Shifters and were born in the Forest but they moved here because they wanted to help others. My sister is High Healer Gimena.”  
          Andrius allowed a smile onto his face before replying, “My sister and I are Shifters as well, but the reason we are here is because we and our cousin are Wizards.”  
          The boy’s eyes widened in awe as he asked, “So why are you becoming Captain of the Guard if you are a Wizard?”  
          “Because I am a pitiful excuse for a wizard and I am much better at Swordsmanship.”  
          “What is your cousin?”  
          “She is an elf, but she is younger than my sister and I.”  
          The boy made a slight scoffing noise before saying, “She must fit in here then, the elves around here really only like you if you can do something incredible.”  
          “Actually, my cousin isn’t here, she is off in some dwarfish land hunting dragons.” Andrius laughed.  
          The boy became speechless for a few moments just staring at Andrius in shock. “So what is your name?” Andrius asked.  
          “……Naeil, what is yours?”  
          “My name is Andrius, My sister is Sariah and my cousin is Ashya.”  
          Naeil’s eyebrows scrunched up. “Her name sounds familiar but I don’t know why.”  
          Before Andrius could ask what he meant, Naeil’s instructor called him over from another platform. “Goodbye, Andrius.”  
          “Goodbye, Naeil.” Andrius said to the boy as Naeil began walking away.  
          Luckshi came towards Andrius and gently patted his back. “Seems you have made a friend.” She observed.  
          Andrius merely nodded as he said, “The other children don’t seem to like me much.”  
          “They have lived most of their live with me as their Captain, just give them some time.”  
          Andrius knew that wasn’t why the children were not fond of him. “They clearly do not like the idea of someone who is not an elf being Captain.”  
          Luckshi let out a low sigh. “Andrius, do not look at all the treasure expecting to see shine, some treasure has rusted over and some have dulled. These children were born on the story of the war between the Shifters and the Elves.”  
          Andrius raised his eyebrows at her. He had never heard anything mentioning a war involving his race. “War?”  
          Luckshi began leading back towards the wall as she spoke, “Yes, it happened so long ago I cannot fathom why anyone still frets over it. The Shifters used to follow the path of the stars but then the Stars took half of the Shifters population and stripped them of their spirit animals and made it so they could only turn into dragons, creating the Drakai. This, naturally, made the Shifters very upset. They asked the stars but no reply came. They begged, still no reply, the stars were too busy with their new race. Finally, after centuries, a reply came; but now no one was listening, the Shifters had turned away from the Stars. The Stars sent the elves to try and speak to them, but the Shifters took this as aggression and attack the elves. By then, the Drakai were ready to be sent into the world and they were sent. But the Drakai, having appreciation for their ancestors, took to the Shifters side. That was when the dwarves entered the conflict and the Old War began. Samara Singsong of the Elves, Glori Fir of the Shifters, Nadi Dabaysha of the Drakai, and Faring Dol of the Dwarves being the oldest and wisest of their races, met to discuss how to end the war. In trying to end a petty feud, they made a horrible mistake: to bring their races together, they awoke the Lord of Darkness and his two sons Pain and Agony. It ended the Old War, but caused what would later be known as the Reign of Darkness in which every race was a slave to the three Dark Creatures, which consumed the land for many centuries. It was only by a grave sacrifice of the Wizard Myria.”  
          A dark look settled on Luckshi’s face as she finished the tale. Andrius bit his lip with confusion. Why would the Stars take the Shifters? “What is on your mind, Andrius?” Luckshi asked suddenly.  
          “Why did the Stars create the Drakai?”  
          “And that is where the worst part of the story comes into play, the Drakai were meant to protect the Shifters.”  
          Before Andrius could ask any more questions, Luckshi led him into what appeared to be the barracks for the kingdoms guard. “Now that I have showed you the kingdom, now is time for you to duel someone with more skill than I.”  
          Andrius’ eyes widened, he didn’t believe such a person could exist. “Who?”  
          “Me.” A voice from some corner said.  
        The said person stepped out of whatever shadow they were hiding in to reveal a smirking Elizaer cleaning twin blades. The blades were of metal Andrius had never seen before; it was if the Stars themselves had been made into those swords because the metal was extremely bright. The handles were midnight blue with dark blue gems lining the sides of the grip and there were runes engraved on the sides of the swords. Although Gabriel had taught them runes, Andrius could not read these. Overall, the swords were beautiful, deadly, thin, and long, befitting the technique of fighting with twin blades. Elizaer put the blades on a nearby rack before grabbing two training swords off of the same rack and handing on to Andrius. “I may have taught Ashya how to fight with swords when her bow will not do, but you, I heard, are extremely talented with a blade. I could have misheard, but either way, this is bound to be interesting.” Elizaer said with a shrug.  
          Now that I think about it, Elizaer is very cocky. As both of the men tapped swords, Andrius felt his heart rate quicken. They stepped back and began to walk in a circle in a defensive stance. Watching Elizaer, Andrius figured by his loose movements that Elizaer was confident in his Strength and Speed. As he expected, Elizaer struck first, trying to hit Andrius his side. Fortunately, he was ready and deflected the attack before retaliating. He made to strike Elizaer’s shoulder, but Elizaer pivoted to the side, grinning as he did so. Normally, cockiness drove Andrius to the absolute brink with anger, but in fighting he had learned to let go of his emotions and just think about the fight. So he did the best thing possible, he grinned back as he struck Elizaer’s hand, becoming the first to land a mark. Elizaer winced and nearly dropped his sword but took a step back before Andrius could fully knock it out of hands. Andrius stepped forward again to strike Elizaer’s shoulder, but was met by Elizaer’s sword crossing his. Sweat began to form on Andrius’ body as they held the stance for what seemed like ages, trying to force the other to let off first. Andrius began to grin as he realized a mistake on Elizaer’s part: in crossing Andrius’ sword, Elizaer had left one side of his body open, making it so that if the weight was shifted Elizaer’s sword would not be able to hold. Elizaer tilted his head slightly at Andrius’ grin, not putting two and two together until it was too late. Andrius slid his sword further down, shifting the weight and causing Elizaer’s sword to give out and Andrius used his sword to flick Elizaer’s sword out of his hand and across the area. Then Andrius brought his sword up to Elizaer’s throat, making him put up his hands in submission. “While that was mildly interesting, I never thought you to be bested so easily, Elizaer.” Luckshi said, finally breaking the silence.  
          `Elizaer merely shrugged and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “At least I am sure of your skill now, Andrius.”  
          Elizaer took their swords and placed them back on the rack before grabbing his twin blades and the belt that held them. “You are very strategic in your fighting and are not easily swayed but your emotions.”  
          Realizing it was a compliment, Andrius replied, “Thank You.”  
          Elizaer gave him a half smile and was about to tell him something but then a blue falcon flew over and landed on in front of him. Elizaer allowed the falcon to hop onto his arm before he walked away into the castle. Puzzled, Andrius turned to face Luckshi, “What was that about?”  
          “The prince has some tasks that take priority; now come on it is time for you to go.” Luckshi shrugged.

          Andrius followed her back into the castle, but he could not help but feel that the falcon’s eyes were extremely familiar.

           
          Sariah was helping Gimena apply an herb-soaked bandage to a small kid’s infected cut when Belwen walked into the infirmary. She gave Sariah a small nod and Gimena a greeting. “Go, Sariah, I can finish this myself.” Gimena ordered.  
          Sariah waved farewell before following Belwen into the corridor where Andrius was also waiting. How was your day? She sent to him.  
          Andrius let out a small smile before responding. Very interesting, yours?  
          Fine, and why was yours interesting?  
          Well I saw the kingdom and I beat Elizaer at a duel. Although I sensed his mind was not into the fight.  
          What do you mean?  
          Never mind, maybe he was tired. Do you know why a blue falcon would be familiar?  
          Sariah gave him an incredulous look as they exited the castle. What.......Actually, I have seen a falcon flying overhead sometimes when we had walked through the castle it had been too far up so I don’t know what color it was. Why?  
          After the duel this blue falcon flew down and Elizaer had to leave. Its eyes were familiar but I don’t know why.  
          What color were they?  
          Blue, bright blue.  
          Your right I don’t know why those would be familiar.  
          “Andrius! Sariah! Were you two paying attention at all?” Belwen snapped, startling the twins.  
          They simultaneously shook their heads and their mother’s eyes flashed orange. “I said we will be meeting Gabriel at the edge of the woods.”  
          Sariah realized they were at the end of the kingdom and there were horses waiting for them. The group each climbed on a horse and they began walking towards the forest that loomed before them. Sariah frowned as they entered the forest. Where is Gabriel? The question ate at the back of her mind as they got a farther into the trees. “I thought you said Gabriel would be meeting us at the edge of the woods.” Sariah said.  
          “Yes, the edge of the woods, the point at which the woods become the plains again.”  
          Sariah made an ‘oh’ face and fell silent for the rest of the trek through the woods. Occasionally she and Andrius would exchange little small talk, especially concerning a very large bunny they had seen, but nothing majorly important or interesting. Except for the bunny. After an eternity, the group finally made it to the edge of the forest, and there was Gabriel and Elizaer waiting. What is Elizaer doing here? I didn’t know he was joining us. “Well, Elizaer, you certainly surprised me! What does your father want you to go for?” Belwen inquired, her voice dripping with suspicion.  
          “Actually, I came of my own accord, with some detriment from my father.” Elizaer said smugly.  
          “Don’t be cheeky cub. We have many leagues to travel and not much daylight left.” Belwen snapped.  
          “Well than what are we waiting for?”  
          Belwen looked like she wanted to snap at him and Elizaer held his hands up in surrender, causing Sariah and Andrius to laugh quietly off to the side. Sariah smiled about how many memories this brought up from Earth. Yet, the memories were bittersweet as someone who she missed was in them. Sariah’s brown eyes met Elizaer’s silver ones for a spit second before he looked away, but in that moment, she saw so many emotions. Amusement, Sadness, Pain, and Anger were more dominant among so many other confusing emotions. It seems that Sariah was not the only one who had memories brought up. She hadn’t realized he was missing her as well. Although, it could have just as well have been guilt. She looked over to Gabriel who seemed to be in an unusually airy mood. That was when she noticed a blue feather on his shoulder. “Gabriel, you have a feather on your shoulder.” She said, not even bothering to hide the puzzled look.  
          An annoyed look entered his face as he removed it from his shoulder. Gabriel turned towards Elizaer and said something that caused Elizaer to burst out laughing. Gabriel, however, did not share his amusement and grumbled to himself as they traveled.  
          It was well after nightfall when Belwen grudgingly said, “We’ll make camp here.”  
          They set up a fire and cooked some food. Then Sariah noticed Gabriel and Elizaer were only eating plants. At least she thought they were plants. “Why do you guys only eat plants?”  
          Elizaer shot Gabriel a look to which he rolled his eyes. “Because I haven’t gotten to teaching you two about culture: Elves cannot eat meat. We don’t know why our bodies cannot process it. All other races can it’s just an anomaly.” Gabriel shrugged.  
          Sariah was still just as puzzled but Andrius was nodding in understanding. “That explains why Ashya was a vegetarian.”  
          Everyone burst out laughing at his statement, even Belwen cracked a smile. Maybe things could get better.  
           
          It was getting later and later in the night and Sariah couldn’t sleep. She should probably tell someone but she thought they wouldn’t like to be bothered so she just laid there staring up at the stars until she heard a loud rattling noise coming from a nearby patch of trees. She sat up quickly as they began to sound closer and reached for her dagger but someone grabbed her hand. Sariah whipped her head around to it was just Gabriel. “Get up, quietly.” He whispered his eyes still trained on the trees.  
          She did as he said and he began pulling her away from the camp slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Elizaer and Andrius were backing away as well. “Gabriel, Elizaer, get them away from here. I’ll be back.” Belwen called over her shoulder as she made for the tree line.  
          Fear for her mother coursed through Sariah but even though she very much wanted to, she did not fight against Gabriel. Fire fanned up from the trees and they watched as whatever was in there trampled out towards them. Now being in sight, Sariah saw it was a dragon hatchelling. It was bright red with burning amber eyes. “A fire drake.” Elizaer said breathlessly.  
          “Sariah, move!” Gabriel shouted.  
          It was already too late; the dragon had seen her and was moving towards her, its tail swaying behind it. She backed up as fast as she could but was already close enough to hit her. The impact from the swat knocked the breath out of Sariah and made her land on rocks she was sure would give her bruises. It made to hit her again, but this time Gabriel appeared and stabbed the hatchelling in its exposed throat. Gabriel managed to somehow escape being splashed with blood but Sariah was not as fortunate. Gabriel cleaned off his sword before holding out a hand to help her up. “Where is she?” Sariah asked, worry in her eyes.  
          Gabriel started moving towards the tree line and Sariah looked back at Elizaer and Andrius who were stuck in a trance like state almost. Seeing as she would be safer with Gabriel, she ran after him, barely catching up to him before he entered the trees. “Sariah go back.” He whispered.  
          “No, what if she is hurt?”  
          “She can regenerate.”  
          “What if you get hurt?”  
          “Stop being stubborn, Gabriel!”  
          Gabriel stopped suddenly causing her to run into him which made them both fall down. She shot him an angry look until she saw he was laughing. “What is so funny?” She hissed.  
          “You are one to talk about being stubborn.” He said, still laughing.  
          “She stood up and stared at him with her arms crossed. Seeing as he wasn’t going to take it back, she began to walk away. She felt him grab her arm as he said, “Wait, I’m not letting you go off on your own. You can come with me just stay behind me.”  
          She nodded happy now that she had gotten her way. When he saw her mood shift he rolled his eyes. After a few moments of walking, they came upon what she assumed was the scene because it was burning. “Belwen!” She called, not seeing her fiery mother anywhere.  
          Gabriel instantly turned on her and put a hand over her mouth before she could call again. “Don’t make a sound! We don’t know if there is something else out here!” He hissed in her ear.  
          Her eyes widened and nodded in compliance and he let her go. Finally, they saw Belwen emerge from the other side of the clearing, a gaping wound in her side. “You are VERY noisy, Sariah. Anything could have heard you and came after you.” She said.  
          “Well thankfully nothing did now let me heal you.”  
          “No I’ll be fine.”  
          “Why does everyone say that? Don’t be ridiculous, let me help you?”  
          Belwen looked like she was going to refuse, but Gabriel walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “She is as stubborn as she sounds, Belwen. It would be wise just to comply.” He warned.  
          “Fine.” Belwen huffed.  
          Sariah took Belwen’s hand off of the wound, causing blood to start pouring out, instead replacing them with her own as she began to a spell to heal any internal damage. When that was finished she still had to close the wound, although she was already tired. She was not strong enough after the first spell to continue the spell in her mind so she muttered the spell low enough so they would not hear instead. After it was done, no one would have been able to tell she had suffered a wound if not for the cuts in her tunic. When Sariah stood up, she nearly toppled over with fatigue. Okay so maybe not the best timing ever but oh well. She thought. She would have fallen again if not for Gabriel catching her with an arm. Sariah murmured thanks as they set off for the camp. When they reached the camp they found a pacing Elizaer and a clearly out of it Andrius. Gabriel and Belwen informed them what had happened as Sariah focused on not falling to the ground. Although it did not seem like a bad option at this point. They began to pack up camp and she made to help them until Gabriel stopped her. “Sit down; you will need your strength for the last leg of this journey.” He said as he climbed onto his horse.  
          “Where are you going?” She asked, incoherently.  
          He smiled at her before saying, “To look ahead, I’ll be back.”  
          He began setting off and she said, “That’s what Belwen said.”  
        She hadn’t meant for him to hear her, but to her surprise he turned around and flashed another smile before he put his horse into a gallop and began down the path, leaving her to sink into a light sleep.  
          Sariah was awoken by Gabriel after what seemed like mere moments. He shook her shoulder slightly and she sat up, accidently hitting his head with hers. “Ow.” He said.  
          “I’m sorry.” She grimaced.  
          He blinked at her and said with a laugh, “Wow, the lady being stubborn actually said sorry.”  
          “You know, if you are going to start laughing at me again I am just going to walk off.”  
          He instantly stopped, “No I am sorry, I will stop.”  
          A flash of worry crossed her mind seemingly out of nowhere. “What happened to Andrius and Elizaer?” She asked him quietly.  
          He stared at for a while, his blue eyes piercing her. “Follow me; we should not talk about this here.” He finally said.  
          Sariah nodded and followed him to a small brook running through the field that was well enough out of earshot. “Elizaer’s mother was fully Drakeian. Meaning she could understand the dragons and even turn into one. Elizaer can do the same thing. The screeching and strange sounds you heard were the hatchelling trying to speak Ghali, the language of the dragons. The reason Andrius was in a trance-like state is because he most likely can do the same.”  
          “But we are twins; shouldn’t we be able to do the same thing?”  
          “Not necessarily, Shifters and the Drakai are alike and so when you get both races it just depends on which is stronger. For you, your spirit animal is most likely stronger. For him, judging by how he went into a trance as well, his dragon is most likely stronger.”  
          “What does that mean?”  
          “It means we most likely will have to journey to the mountains on the other side of the land, just outside of Allaria.”  
          They became silent as Sariah chewed over this bit of information. “Gabriel, how do you know this much?”  
          He let out a soft laugh. “I myself am a Shifter.”  
          “Let me guess, you turn into a blue falcon.”  
          He stared at her in shock before saying, “Yes, but how did you know.”  
          “Hmm? Oh I don’t know maybe a falcon flying around the castle and the fact that you had a blue feather on you might have helped.” She said sarcastically.  
          Gabriel rolled his eyes at her comment. “Oh and what did you say to Elizaer that made him laugh so loud?” She asked a smile on her face.  
          “I said ‘Great now I am shedding’ I did not know it would cause him to burst out laughing.” Gabriel said with a huff.  
          The expression on his face made it clear she shouldn’t laugh but it was really hard to contain it. Although what he said next took her urge to laugh away. “I have a question of my own for you as well, can you and Andrius speak through your minds?” He asked.  
          Sariah bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood. “Um…yes.” She said weakly.  
          “Well that explains your behavior. You need to work better on hiding your conversations. I couldn’t hear them but I could tell when you were having one.”  
          “Okay.” She said in a small voice.  
          “We should probably head back so we can make it to the Forest by sundown.”  
          He got up and helped her up as they set off back towards the camp, where Belwen and the rest were barely waking up. “Did I really take that long?” He asked them.  
          They all shot him glares, well except for Andrius, as they began climbing onto their horses. As they set off, Sariah felt Andrius’ mind press against hers and she thought about what Gabriel told her and how she should probably not tell Andrius.  
          What were you and Gabriel talking about?  
          Sariah knew she couldn’t lie to him, it wouldn’t be right. So she gave him a piece of the truth. The dragon.  
          What about it?  
          How I couldn’t kill it. Gabriel had noticed I was bothered by something.  
          Yeah you did seem shaken up by something. I guess being a healer has its downsides.   
          It is because I am a Wizard of Life. I can feel the life in something. And I cannot take that away.  
          Oh.  
          Yeah.  
          Sariah pulled her mind away from his and rode in silence, not wanting to stretch the truth even more. Then she heard Gabriel taking quietly to Elizaer in elfish. She could understand bits and pieces but enough to know that he was talking about how Andrius might have a dragon in him. When Gabriel got to the pint, Elizaer’s face dropped in sorrow as he said something Sariah definitely understood. “The process is very painful.”


End file.
